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The 79^th edition of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia will take place between May 2^nd and May 15^th at the Parco del Foro Italico of Rome. The first matches will start on Saturday April 30^th as the pre-qualification tournament will kick off. A week later, on Saturday May 7^th qualifications will begin and carry on to the next day, when 4 main draw matches will also take place. On Sunday May 15^th both finals will wrap up the tournament.

WILD CARDS – The Wild Cards that can be assigned by FIT have been decided via the already-applied formula that considers the rankings placements and the age of players. For this reason, main draw Wild Cards for the women have been granted to Jasmine Paolini, Lucia Bronzetti and Elisabetta Cocciaretto, the latter recovering from injury. On the men’s side, Lorenzo Musetti and Flavio Cobolli received two, while the remaining two will be given to the finalists of the pre-qualification tournament, which is also granting places to the qualification draws.

TOURNAMENT DIRECTION – From this edition, longstanding tournament director Sergio Palmieri, whose first year in charge was 1999, will be flanked by Paolo Lorenzi as vice director. 40-years-old Lorenzi ended his professional career a year ago having been Italian number one in 2016 and with two ATP 250 titles as well as 21 ATP Challengers.

THE PROGRAM – Main draw matches will be split between two sessions: a day – and an evening one, the latter only taking place on the Campo Centrale. The day session will kick off at 11am on every court. On Campo Centrale, often referred as the court with the best visibility in the world by players and tennis experts, the evening session will start at 7pm and will feature a men and a women match. On the Grand Stand Arena, the program will sport a “long session”, meaning 5 matches per day starting from 11am. This will serve fans a long and high-quality offer. Semi-finals and finals will take place on the Campo Centrale.

STADIO PIETRANGELI – This iconic court will be accessible by all Ground Ticket holders from Monday May 9^th to Thursday May 12^th. On the program, five matches per day are scheduled on this court, split between both the men and the women draws. On Friday May 13^th, four matches are scheduled, three of them being the quarter-finals of the women draw.

TRAININGS – The Foro Italico is made of 14 clay courts, 8 of them reserved for official singles and doubles’ matches. The remaining 6 courts are reserved for trainings that fans can attend on the side. Trainings’ timetables will be shown on the big screens at the Foro, on the official website and the tournament’s app.  

PRESALE – as of April 19^th, the tickets’ presale adds to a total of 9.096.000 euro, marking a 11% increase compared to 2019, the last pre-covid edition. Daily tickets sold as of that date are 78.795, while 1.219 multi-day passes have been issued. Ground Tickets are also available for sale as of now. In order to buy your ticket or pass, all you need to do is to visit the ticketing website and follow the instructions. As every year, only about 30 tickets will be on sale on site at the gates of Foro Italico on Saturday 14^th and Sunday 15^th.

PRE-QUALIFICATION IBI: It could be said that the Internazionali BNL d’Italia are the most attended tournament in the world when it comes to number of participants: the pre-qualification phase has already started. Players of any level have taken part to the various tournaments across the country that after the long stop due to the pandemic have been organized again this year. Such tournaments are reserved to players who could represent Italy on a team event and who hold a valid “tessera agonistica” from FIT. The participants of this year’s edition were 15.817 (551 more than in 2019). On top of this number, the participants of the TPRA phase of the tournament will also be added. The final stage of the pre-qualies will take place at the Foro Italico from April 30^th to May 5^th with 40 players each on the men’s and women’s singles draws. These two tournaments will grant Wild Cards for the qualifications’ and main draws of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. Two 14-couples doubles draws will also be held. The winning duos will receive a main draw Wild Card.

BEST POSSIBLE TV COVERAGE – All tennis fans will be able to follow the tournament in Italy thanks to a minute coverage. The men tournament will be covered fully by Sky, with one match per day available on a Mediaset channels (Italia 1 and Canale 20), while a second ATP match will be aired as an evening rerun by SuperTennis. The FIT tv channel, who holds the rights for the WTA season, will air the women’s tournament as thoroughly as possible with live coverage for the 14^th consecutive season. But the coverage will not be limited to live matches: fans can experience the emotion and vibes of the tournament thanks to studio insights, interviews with the protagonists and exclusive behind-the-scenes from the tournament.

SUPERTENNIX – All WTA matches from the tournament will be streamed live and simultaneously on SuperTenniX. The digital platform of SuperTennis is a free service that Federazione Italiana Tennis has granted to all its members. Fans who do not hold a membership to the federation can still subscribe to the platform with a cost of 3.99€ per month or 34.99€ per year. Both offers give a 14 days free trial.

WEBSITE, APP and SOCIAL – thanks to the digital channels of the tournament, the atmosphere of the Foro Italico will reach all the fans who cannot attend the event. Via the official social media handles of the tournament, fans will connect to the emotions that live courtside, access player-only zones and experience the tournament to the fullest. The official website and app will also serve fans thoroughly during the event: live results, timetables, news and facts will be updated continuously. From this year, on the app, one can access the IBITV, where pre-qualifications will be streamed as well as champions’ training sessions.

FIRST INTERNATIONAL PADEL SYMPOSIUM – It will take place on Friday May 6^th at the Foro Italico. The event is organized by the Istituto Superiore di Formazione “Roberto Lombardi” together with the International Padel Federation’s president Luigi Carraro. With the contribution of PTR (Professional Tennis Registry) and PCR (Padel Coaches Registry), it promises to launch a new cycle in the world of Padel and it will include many lecturers among doctors and international players.

PRESTIGIOUS PARTNERS – Next to the BNL – BNP PARIBAS group, title sponsor of the tournament for the 16^th consecutive year, the event can showcase a number of important partners. Reale Mutua, the most important insurance company in Italy in the form of mutual aid, is an Official Partner of the tournament; BMW is confirmed as the Official Car; Joma intensified its vicinity to the world of tennis as the official Technical Partner of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia and supplying clothes to line judges, ball kids and staff. Many long-lasting partners confirmed their presence and exposure with court-side banners and dedicated stands in the hospitality and commercial areas of the tournament: Rolex, Dunlop, Emirates, Algida, Valmora, Red Bull, Ricoh, EMU, Herbalife, Frecciarossa, Technogym and TicketOne. Starting from this year, the event is enjoying the support of Official Partners Asti DOCG, ENI and Solgar.

CORPORATE HOSPITALITY – It is a service of excellence meant for companies and privates that want to enhance their business and public relations activities during the tournament, create new opportunities to build connections, gratify their employees and clients and share special moments with them. The best seats on the most exclusive tribunes are directly connected to the Club Lounges, areas with a reserved access and all comforts. The offer is completed by LEA, the concept hospitality space signed by the International BNL d’Italia and the Forte Village, with two restaurants – Bistrot and Gourmet – that will satisfy even the most delicate palates.

MEDIA CENTRE – It will be placed inside the Campo Centrale together with the Communication offices, the press centre, the press conference room and the ATP and WTA offices. Photographers will be granted access to the tribunes, but only the ones with the relevant armband will be allowed to the reserved position on the Campo Centrale, facing the umpire’s chair.

TENNIS IN THE HEART OF ROME – The Interantionali BNL d’Italia will go further than the Foro Italico and meet people in many iconic places of Rome, thanks to the collaboration with the Comune di Roma. For example, the Piazza di Spagna underground stop on the Linea A will feature graphic elements of the tournament, as well as 300 meters of videowalls that will show the faces and colours of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. Ten bridges in the city will also speak the language of tennis: banners displaying on both sides the slogan “IBI is Rome/IBI is more” will be placed on Ponte Cavour, Ponte Duca D’Aosta, Ponte Garibaldi, Ponte Milvio, Ponte Principe Amedeo, Ponte Regina Margherita, Ponte Risorgimento, Ponte Testaccio, Ponte Umberto I, and Ponte Vittorio Emanuele II. The access to the Foro Italico will also be improved thanks to two taxi stations that will follow defined times to support the departure from the venue. The first one is placed at the corner between Viale delle Olimpiadi and via Roberto Morra da Lavriano, next to the petrol station. The second is set to be across the Ponte della Musica, in Piazza Gentile da Fabriano. More initiatives are currently being discussed and finalized, including two “Tennis Nights” in the city, when shops will open during later times and a special card will be realized in collaboration with some retails.