internazionali bnl d'italia · History

The Internazionali BNL d'Italia is played on clay at the Foro Italico in Rome, its home since 1935. Founded in Milan in 1930 at the initiative of Count Alberto Bonacossa, the tournament brings together a men's ATP Masters 1000 and a women's WTA 1000 on the same bill. Its official name carries that of the bank BNL, the event's title sponsor.

From Milan to Rome

The first edition was held in Milan in 1930. Five years later the tournament moved to the Foro Italico sports complex in Rome, where it settled. It was not held between 1936 and 1949 and only returned to the calendar in 1950. The best-known exception to the Roman venue came in 1961, when the event was moved to Turin to mark the centenary of Italian unification. On the men's side, the first Italian champions were Emanuele Sertorio in 1933 and Giovanni Palmieri in 1934. Among the women, Lucia Valerio won in 1931.

The Open Era and its place on tour

The tournament opened to professionals in 1969. The men's event was part of the Grand Prix circuit from 1972 to 1989 and, from 1990, of the ATP's top tier below the majors, the category later renamed Masters 1000. The women's event had a less settled path: it left Rome between 1980 and 1984, when it was staged in Perugia, moved to Taranto in 1985, was not held in 1986 and returned to the capital in 1987. Since 2011 the men's and women's events have been played together, with the women's draw ranked as a WTA 1000. In June 2022 the ATP announced that from 2023 Rome would run over two weeks, in a 12-day format similar to Indian Wells and Miami.

The Foro Italico

The complex has 21 clay courts, nine of which are used during the tournament. The main court, the Campo Centrale, was rebuilt for the 2010 edition and holds 10,400 spectators. The second show court, the Stadio Pietrangeli, formerly known as the Pallacorda, seats 3,500 and is named after Nicola Pietrangeli, who won the title in 1957 and 1961.

Men's record holders

Rafael Nadal holds the men's record with ten titles: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2018, 2019 and 2021. Novak Djokovic is next with six, the last of them in 2022, when he beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final after defeating Casper Ruud in a semi-final that brought him the thousandth win of his career. Alexander Zverev won in 2024 and Carlos Alcaraz in 2025, beating Jannik Sinner in the final.

The women's champions

In the women's draw, Chris Evert won five titles: 1974, 1975, 1980, 1981 and 1982. Gabriela Sabatini triumphed in 1988, 1989, 1991 and 1992, and Conchita Martínez put together four titles in a row from 1993 to 1996. Serena Williams also collected four (2002, 2013, 2014 and 2016), while Monica Seles won in 1990 and 2000. Iga Świątek took the 2021, 2022 and 2024 editions, beating Aryna Sabalenka 6-2, 6-3 in the last of those finals. Italy's Raffaella Reggi won in 1985, the Taranto year, and Jasmine Paolini lifted the trophy in 2025 after defeating Coco Gauff 6-4, 6-2.

Italian winners

After Sertorio and Palmieri, the men's event produced home champions in Fausto Gardini (1955), Nicola Pietrangeli (1957 and 1961) and Adriano Panatta (1976). The next wait lasted half a century. On 17 May 2026, Jannik Sinner beat Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-4 to become the first Italian man to win in Rome since Panatta, who watched the final from the stands. The title completed Sinner's set of all nine Masters 1000 tournaments. At the same edition, Elina Svitolina won the women's title against Coco Gauff 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-2, and Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori took the 2026 men's doubles.