The Internazionali BNL d’Italia, better known as the Italian Open, one of three clay court tournaments played as part of ATP Masters 1000 events, has kicked off. Played at the Foro Italico in Rome, the Italian Open brings back 10-time champ and clay court king Rafael Nadal for one last shot at glory. Rafa, as the star is popularly known, is just back after an injury and has said that the 2024 season would be his last as a professional tennis player. Can he add another win, given that this will only be his second tournament in 15 months? Ranked a lowly 305 now, Nadal will begin his Italian Open campaign on May 9 against Zizou Bergs.

Keeping Rafa on his toes will be 6-time champ Novak Djokovic, who last played each other in Rome in 2021, where the former emerged triumphant. Rafa has a 4-2 record against Djokovic, while the two of them share the record for most finals played, tied at 12 each. Rafa not only has won the most finals in a row – 3 – he has also been in 6 consecutive finals.

Also, in the tournament are defending champion Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zverev (2017 champ), Andrey Rublev, Holger Rune (2023 runner-up), Stefanos Tsitsipas (2022 runner-up) and Casper Ruud, among others. Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz recently withdrew from the tournament following injury.

In the women’s draw, Iga Swiatek is the top seed, followed by Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina, Maria Sakkari, Marketa Vondrousova, Qinwen Zheng and Ons Jabeur. Former No.1 Naomi Osaka is playing the tournament for the first time since 2021; also making a comeback this year is Angelique Kerber.

The tournament, which began on May 6 with the first-round qualifiers, now moves to the next stage, which will see the top seeds in action. All the matches are available to be streamed on Sony LIV from 2.30 pm onward (IST). The finals will be held on the weekend of May 18 and 19.

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