The Italian Open () is an annual professional
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 held in
Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
, Italy. It is played on
clay court
A clay court is one of the types of tennis court on which the sport of tennis is played. Clay courts are built on a foundation of crushed stone, brick, shale, and other construction aggregate, aggregate, with a thin layer of fine clay particles ...
s 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 ...
, and is held during the second week of May. The tournament is part of the
ATP 1000 events on the
ATP Tour
The ATP Tour (known as ATP World Tour between January 2009 and December 2018) is the sole worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) founded in 1990 that replaced the earlier dual Grand Prix ...
and part of the
WTA 1000 events on the
WTA Tour. The two events were combined in 2011.
History
The Italian tennis championship was first held in 1930 in
Milan
Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
at the Tennis Club and was initiated by
Count Alberto Bonacossa. The singles events at the tournament were won by
Bill Tilden and
Lilí Álvarez. The championships were held in Milan until 1934. The next year, 1935, the event moved to 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. No edition was held between 1936 and 1949. The competition resumed in 1950. In 1961, on the occasion of the 100th
Anniversary of the Unification of Italy, the tournament was held in
Turin
Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...
at the Sporting Club. It has had various naming incarnations through the years including: the Italian International Championships, the Rome Masters, and the BNL d'Italia for
sponsorship reasons.
The Italian Open became "
open
Open or OPEN may refer to:
Music
* Open (band), Australian pop/rock band
* The Open (band), English indie rock band
* ''Open'' (Blues Image album), 1969
* ''Open'' (Gerd Dudek, Buschi Niebergall, and Edward Vesala album), 1979
* ''Open'' (Go ...
" to professional players in 1969. Between 1972 and 1989 it was a premier tournament of the
Grand Prix Tennis Tour and was part of the
Grand Prix Super Series top tier events. In 1990 it became an ATP Championship Series Single Week tournament, which included the nine most prestigious tournaments of the preceding
Grand Prix tennis circuit
The ITF Grand Prix Circuit was a professional tennis tour for male players founded in 1970 as the ILTF Grand Prix Tennis Circuit it was administered by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and ran annually until 1989 when it and the rival ...
. It has remained part of this category of events until today, that has changed names several times since, to be now known as the
ATP Tour Masters 1000 events.
In June 2022, the ATP announced some changes to the ATP calendar for the coming year. The ATP Masters 1000 event in Rome along with those in Shanghai and in Madrid would now be held over two weeks starting in 2023, thus becoming 12 day events just like the Masters 1000 events in Indian Wells and Miami.
In 2025,
Italian Tennis and Padel Federation bid $550 million to acquire the Madrid Open, aiming to elevate the Italian Open to Grand Slam status.
In 1979 the women's event was held two weeks before the men's event. The women's event was played in
Perugia
Perugia ( , ; ; ) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area. It has 162,467 ...
from 1980 though 1984 and in
Taranto in 1985. No women's event was held in 1986 and it moved back to Rome again in 1987 where it has remained.
The tournament is held at the Foro Italico tennis center, which is an extensive area with a total of 21 clay surface tennis courts, nine of which are used for the Italian Open tournament and the rest for training purposes. There are currently four stadium courts: the main one, ''Stadio Centrale'', was rebuilt for the 2010 tournament and has a capacity of 10,400 spectators. The other grounds are the ''Stadio Pietrangeli'' (formerly ''Pallacorda'', 3,500 seats), the ''Grand Stand Arena'' and the ''Supertennis Arena''.
Prize money
The ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Rome (Internazionali BNL d'Italia) has a total financial commitment of €9,645,265 for the 2025 edition. This includes prize money of €8,055,385, and other associated fees and costs. The singles champion will earn €985,030, and the doubles team that wins will split €400,560.
The package is divided as follows:
Past finals
Men's singles
Women's singles
Men's doubles
Women's doubles
Records
Source: The Tennis Base
Men's singles
Women's singles
;Longest final
;Shortest completed final
Women's doubles
;Longest final
;Shortest completed finals
Notes
See also
*
:National and multi-national tennis tournaments
References
External links
Official websiteATP tournament profileOfficial live video websiteStadium Journey article
{{coord, 41, 55, 45.20, N, 12, 27, 21.46, E, type:landmark_region:IT, display=title
Tennis tournaments in Italy
Clay court tennis tournaments
WTA 1000 tournaments
Sports competitions in Rome
Recurring sporting events established in 1930
ATP Tour Masters 1000
National and multi-national tennis tournaments