The 2003 Monte Carlo Masters was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 97th edition of the Monte Carlo Masters and was part of the Tennis Masters Series of the 2003 ATP Tour. It took place at the Monte Carlo Country Club in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin in France from April 14 through April 20, 2003.
The men's field was headlined by Juan Carlos Ferrero, Carlos Moyá and Andy Roddick. Other top seeds in the field were Albert Costa, Jiří Novák, David Nalbandian, Paradorn Srichaphan and Rainer Schüttler.
Rafael Nadal, then aged 16, made his tournament debut in this year, losing to Guillermo Coria in the Round of 16. This would be the last time in which he would be defeated at the event until 2013.
Famous quotes containing the words monte, carlo and/or masters:
“...we were at last in Monte Cristo’s country, fairly into the country of the fabulous, where extravagance ceases to exist because everything is extravagant, and where the wildest dreams come true.”
—Willa Cather (1876–1947)
“If there is anything so romantic as that castle-palace-fortress of Monaco I have not seen it. If there is anything more delicious than the lovely terraces and villas of Monte Carlo I do not wish to see them. There is nothing beyond the semi-tropical vegetation, the projecting promontories into the Mediterranean, the all-embracing sweep of the ocean, the olive groves, and the enchanting climate! One gets tired of the word beautiful.”
—M. E. W. Sherwood (1826–1903)
“Today as in the time of Pliny and Columella, the hyacinth flourishes in Wales, the periwinkle in Illyria, the daisy on the ruins of Numantia; while around them cities have changed their masters and their names, collided and smashed, disappeared into nothingness, their peaceful generations have crossed down the ages as fresh and smiling as on the days of battle.”
—Edgar Quinet (1803–1875)