Seven of the Top 10 players in the INDESIT ATP Rankings, including ATP World No. 1 Roger Federer, defending champion Rafael Nadal and No. 3 David Nalbandian contest the third ATP Masters Series event of the season at the Monte-Carlo Country Club.

For the first time since 1980, the Top 3 players in the ATP Rankings are playing on the clay-courts of Monte-Carlo. That year, Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors headlined.

Twenty-six years on, Federer and Nadal lead the way. This season Federer repeated his 2005 tournament victories at ATP Masters Series events in Indian Wells and Miami.

Nadal won 50 of 52 matches on red dirt last year, leading the ATP for match wins on the surface. The Spaniard won eight of his 11 titles on clay, including Masters Series Monte-Carlo presented by ROLEX.

The 19-year-old enters Monte-Carlo with a 36-match winning streak on clay. His last loss on clay came to Russian Igor Andreev in the quarterfinals of Valencia on April 8, 2005.

In the Open Era, Nadal’s clay-court winning streak ranks him in fifth place with Argentine Guillermo Vilas’ haul of 53 between May to September 1977 standing the test of time almost 30 years on.

Besides Nadal, the Monte-Carlo field includes three former champions: Guillermo Coria, the 2004 winner, Juan Carlos Ferrero (2002-2003) and Carlos Moya (1998).

In fact, Guillermo Coria is looking to become the first player to reach four consecutive Monte-Carlo finals since Ilie Nastase from 1971-1974.

The last Frenchman to win the title was Cedric Pioline in 2000.