The 1999 Italian Open was a

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 56th edition of the Italian Open, and was part of the ATP Super 9 of the

1999 ATP Tour The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Tour is the elite professional tennis circuit organised by the ATP. The 1999 ATP Tour calendar comprises the Grand Slam tournaments, supervised by the International Tennis Federation (ITF), the ATP ...

, and of the

Tier I Series The WTA Tier I tournaments were Women's Tennis Association tennis elite tournaments held from 1990 until the end of the 2008 season. From 1988 to 1990, the different levels of WTA tournaments were referred to by the term 'Category', and there ...

of the

1999 WTA Tour The WTA Tour is the elite tour for professional women's tennis organised by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). The WTA Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments, the WTA Tour Championships and the WTA Tier I, Tier II, Tier III and Tier IV ...

. Both the men's and the women's events took place at the

Foro Italico Foro Italico is a sports complex in Rome, Italy, on the slopes of Monte Mario. It was built between 1928 and 1938 as the Foro Mussolini (literally Benito Mussolini, Mussolini's Forum (Roman), Forum) under the design of Enrico Del Debbio and, lat ...

in Rome, Italy. The men's field was led by ATP No. 2,

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...

titlist

Yevgeny Kafelnikov Yevgeny Aleksandrovich Kafelnikov ( rus, Евгений Александрович Кафельников, , jɪvˈɡʲenʲɪj ˈkafʲɪlʲnʲɪkəf, a=Ru-Yevgeny-Kafelnikov.ogg; born 18 February 1974) is a Russian former professional tennis p ...

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

winner,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

runner-up

Pete Sampras Pete Sampras (born August 12, 1971) is an American former professional tennis player. One of the most successful tennis players of all time, he was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the A ...

and

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

champion, Masters Cup winner

Àlex Corretja Alejandro Corretja Verdegay (; born 11 April 1974) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 2 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in 1999. Corretja won 17 ATP Tour singles titles, incl ...

. Also competing were

US Open U.S. Open or US Open are open championship sporting tournaments that are hosted in the United States and in which anyone, especially amateur and professional, or American and non-American, may compete. The term may also be applied to non-sporting ev ...

defending champion

Patrick Rafter Patrick Michael Rafter (born 28 December 1972) is an Australian former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), and world No. 6 in doubles. Rafter won eleven ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

titlist

Richard Krajicek Richard Peter Stanislav Krajicek (; born 6 December 1971) is a Dutch former professional tennis player and tournament director. Krajicek won 17 singles titles during his career, including the 1996 Wimbledon Championships, becoming the first (an ...

Carlos Moyá Carlos Moyá Llompart (; born 27 August 1976) is a Spanish former professional tennis player and coach. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Moyá won 20 ATP Tour-level singles tit ...

Tim Henman Timothy Henry Henman (born 6 September 1974) is a British former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 4 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) during the early 2000s. Henman won 15 career ATP Tour titl ...

and

Marcelo Ríos Marcelo Andrés Ríos Mayorga (; born 26 December 1975) is a Chilean former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), the first Latin American to reach the t ...

. The women's draw was headlined by the WTA No. 1,

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

winner, and

finalist

Martina Hingis Martina Hingis (, ; born 30 September 1980) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 209 weeks ( fifth-most of all time) and as the world No. ...

; the

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

titlist, and

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

semi-finalist

Arantxa Sánchez Vicario Aránzazu Isabel María "Arantxa" Sánchez Vicario (; born 18 December 1971) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 12 weeks, as well as ...

; and the

Key Biscayne Key Biscayne () is an island located in Miami-Dade County, Florida, located between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay. It is the southernmost of the barrier islands along the Atlantic coast of Florida, and lies south of Miami Beach and sout ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

champion

Venus Williams Venus Ebony Starr Williams (born June 17, 1980) is an American inactive tennis player. She has been ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA for 11 wee ...

. Other top seeds were Gold Coast runner-up

Mary Pierce Mary Caroline Pierce (born 15 January 1975) is a French former professional tennis player. She was ranked world No. 3 in singles and in doubles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). Pierce won 18 singles titles on the WTA Tour, including two ...

, Gold Coast champion

Patty Schnyder Patty Schnyder (born 14 December 1978)
Weltwoche, 14. September 2011 is a Swiss reti ...

, Indian Wells champion

Serena Williams Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WT ...

, and Frenchwomen

Nathalie Tauziat Nathalie Tauziat (born 17 October 1967) is a French former professional tennis player and coach. She was the runner-up in women's singles at the 1998 Wimbledon Championships and runner-up in the women's doubles at the 2001 US Open partnering ...

and

Sandrine Testud Sandrine Testud (born 3 April 1972) is a former professional tennis player from France. Career Testud broke into top 20 singles rankings in July 1997. On February 7, 2000, she became the sixth Frenchwoman after Françoise Dürr, Mary Pierce, ...

Finals

Men's singles

Gustavo Kuerten Gustavo "Guga" Kuerten (; born 10 September 1976) is a Brazilian former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the list of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals f ...

defeated

, 6–4, 7–5, 7–6^(8–6) * It was Gustavo Kuerten's 2nd title of the year and his 5th overall. It was his 2nd Masters title.

Women's singles

defeated

, 6–4, 6–2. *It was Venus Williams' 4th title of the year and her 7th overall. It was her 2nd Tier I title of the year and her 3rd overall.

Men's doubles

Ellis Ferreira Ellis Ferreira (born 19 February 1970) is a former professional male tennis player from South Africa. He played collegiately at the University of Alabama, earning all-SEC and all-American honors. Ferreira competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics ...

Rick Leach Rick Leach (born December 28, 1964) is a former professional tennis player and coach from the United States. A doubles specialist, he won five Grand Slam doubles titles (three at the Australian Open, one at Wimbledon, and one at the US Open) ...

defeated

David Adams David Adams may refer to: Government officials * David S. Adams (State Department) (born 1961), Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs * David Adams (Labour politician) (1871–1943), British Labour Party Member of Parliament, 1922� ...

John-Laffnie de Jager John-Laffnie de Jager (born 17 March 1973) is a South African former tour professional tennis player. A doubles specialist, de Jager reached the semi-finals for three different grand slam tournaments three times in three different years part ...

, 6–7, 6–1, 6–2

Women's doubles

Anna Kournikova Anna Sergeyevna Kournikova Iglesias (née Kournikova; ; ; born 7 June 1981) is a Russian model and television personality, and former professional tennis player. Her appearance and celebrity status made her one of the best known tennis stars ...

defeated

Alexandra Fusai Alexandra Fusai (born 22 November 1973) is a former professional tennis player from France. Fusai was born in Saint-Cloud, Hauts-de-Seine. Starting from September 1989 when she turned professional, Fusai played four tournaments (all of them p ...

, 6–2, 6–2.

WTA entrants

Seeds

Other entrants

The following players received

wildcard Wild card most commonly refers to: * Wild card (cards), a playing card that substitutes for any other card in card games * Wild card (sports), a tournament or playoff place awarded to an individual or team that has not qualified through normal pla ...

s into the singles main draw: *

Tathiana Garbin Tathiana Garbin (; born 30 June 1977) is an Italian retired tennis player. She was Gold Medalist at the 1997 Mediterranean Games and Italian capitan in leading the Italian national team (composed by Jasmine Paolini, Sara Errani, Martina Tre ...

Francesca Lubiani Francesca Lubiani (born 12 July 1977) is a former professional tennis player Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of ...

Adriana Serra Zanetti Adriana Serra Zanetti (born 5 March 1976; ) is an Italian former tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two pl ...

The following players received wildcards into the doubles main draw: *

Flora Perfetti Flora Perfetti (born 29 January 1969) is an Italian tennis player. On 21 April 1997 she reached her highest WTA singles ranking at No. 54 and 17 March of the same year reached her highest doubles ranking at No. 71. Biography Flora started playi ...

Antonella Serra Zanetti Antonella Serra Zanetti (born 25 July 1980; ) is a former professional tennis player from Italy. On 30 January 2006, Serra Zanetti achieved her career-high singles ranking of world No. 60. On 8 May 2006, she peaked at No. 47 in the doubles rank ...

The following players received entry from the singles qualifying draw: *

Francesca Schiavone Francesca Schiavone (; born 23 June 1980) is an Italian former professional tennis player. She had career-high rankings of world No. 4 in women's singles and No. 8 in women's doubles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). Schiavone won eight W ...

Christína Papadáki Christína Papadáki () (born 24 February 1973) is a former tennis player from Greece who turned professional in 1989. Her biggest career achievement was reaching the final of the Copa Colsanitas tournament in 1999, losing to Fabiola Zuluaga a ...

María Vento Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial * 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 *Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, d ...

Sabine Appelmans Sabine Appelmans (born 22 April 1972) is a former professional tennis player from Belgium. She was Belgium's Fed Cup Captain (sports), captain from 2007 until 2011. Career Appelmans started playing at the neighbour's court at the age of seven ...

Elena Dementieva Elena Viacheslavovna Dementieva (, ; born 15 October 1981) is a Russian former professional tennis player. She was WTA rankings, ranked world No. 3 in women's singles and world No. 5 in women's doubles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA. Dem ...

Germana Di Natale Germana Di Natale (born 2 April 1974) is a former professional tennis player from Italy. Biography A right-handed player, Di Natale started playing tennis at the age of ten and began touring in the early 1990s. Di Natale was a singles bronze me ...

Sandra Cacic Sandra Cacic (born September 10, 1974) is a retired American tennis player. She is of Croatian American descent and her Croatian surname is . Her highest WTA singles ranking is 39th, which she achieved on May 9, 1994. Her career-high in doub ...

The following player received entry as a lucky loser: *

Tatiana Panova Tatiana Urayevna Panova (; born 13 August 1976

The following players received entry from the doubles qualifying draw: *

Larissa Schaerer Larissa Schaerer (born 15 April 1975) is a former professional tennis player from Paraguay. Biography A right-handed player, Schaerer was born in Asuncion and began playing tennis aged eight. She was a member of the Paraguayan team that finishe ...

Magüi Serna María Luisa ("Magüi") Serna Barrera (; born 1 March 1979) is a former tennis player from Spain. She started competing on the ITF Circuit as from 1993, and joined the WTA Tour in 1996. On 12 January 2004, she reached her career-high singles ...

The following players received entry as lucky losers: *

Jana Kandarr Jana Kandarr (born 21 September 1976) is a German former top 50 professional tennis player. Kandarr is notable for playing with her right hand, even though she is left-handed. Career Kandarr moved with her parents from Halle to Karlsruhe afte ...

Samantha Reeves Samantha Reeves (born January 17, 1979) is an American former professional tennis player. Her best results in singles have been reaching the quarterfinals at Hawaii (2002), Bahia and Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Prov ...

References

External links

*
ATP tournament profile

WTA tournament profile
{{1999 WTA Tour Italian Open Italian Open May 1999 sports events in Europe Italian Open (tennis)