Italian Open (tennis)
Italian Open | |||||||||
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Tournament information | |||||||||
Founded | 1930 | ||||||||
Location |
Rome Italy | ||||||||
Venue | Foro Italico | ||||||||
Surface | Clay / outdoors | ||||||||
Website |
www | ||||||||
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The Italian Open (also known by its sponsored name Internazionali BNL d'Italia) is an annual tennis tournament held in Rome, Italy. It is one of the most prestigious red clay tennis tournaments in the world after the French Open,[1] with the men's competition being an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) tour, and the women's competition being a Premier 5 event on the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) tour. The two events were combined in 2011. The tournament is played on clay courts, currently during the second week of May. The event is also known as the Rome Masters and the Italian Championships. Rafael Nadal has won the title a record seven times. The official technical sponsor of the Italian Open is Australian L'alpina.
History
The Italian tennis championship was first held in 1930 in Milan at the Tennis Club Milano and was initiated by Count Alberto Bonacossa.[2] The tournament was won by Bill Tilden and Lilí de Álvarez. The championships were held in Milan until 1934. The next year, 1935, the event moved to the Foro Italico in Rome. No edition was held between 1936 and 1949. The competition resumed in 1950. In 1961 the tournament was held in Torino at the Sporting Club.
The Italian Open became "open" to professional players in 1969. Between 1970 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. In 1979 the women's event was held two weeks before the men's event. The women's event was played in Perugia from 1980 though 1984 and in Taranto in 1985. No women's event was held in 1986[lower-alpha 1] and it moved back to Rome again in 1987 where it has remained.[3]
Past finals
Men's singles
Women's singles
Men's doubles
Women's doubles
Since 1968:
Records
Source: The Tennis Base [4]
Men
- Most titles: Rafael Nadal (7 titles)
- Most finals: Rafael Nadal (9 finals)
- Most consecutive titles: Rafael Nadal (3 titles) (2005–07)
- Most consecutive finals: Rafael Nadal (6 finals) (2009–14)
- Most matches played: Nicola Pietrangeli (72)
- Most matches won: Nicola Pietrangeli (52)
- Most consecutive matches won: Rafael Nadal (17)
- Most editions played: Nicola Pietrangeli (22)
- Best match winning %: Björn Borg and Rod Laver, 93.75%
- Oldest champion: Bill Tilden, 38y 2m & 18d (1930)
- Youngest champion: Björn Borg, 17y 11m & 2d (1974)
- Longest final: Rafael Nadal def. Roger Federer, 6–7(7–9), 7–6(7–5), 6–4, 2–6, 7–6(7–5) (57 games) (2006)
- Shortest final: Rafael Nadal def. Roger Federer, 6–1, 6–3 (16 games) (2013)
Women
- Most titles: Chris Evert (5 titles)
- Most finals: Chris Evert (7 finals)
- Most consecutive titles: Conchita Martínez (4 titles) (1993–96)
- Most consecutive finals: Conchita Martínez (5 finals) (1993–97)
Notes
References
- ↑ "The History of the Italian Championships as Told By Bud Collins," World Tennis Magazine, May 15, 2-012, at http://www.worldtennismagazine.com/archives/6740%7Cdate=May 2015
- ↑ "Athletes – Alberto, Count Bonacossa". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 2015-10-02.
- ↑ Collins, Bud (2010). The Bud Collins History of Tennis (2nd ed.). [New York]: New Chapter Press. pp. 740–741. ISBN 978-0942257700.
- ↑ "Italian Open, Rome, Tournament Records". thetennisbase.com. The Tennis Base, 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
External links
- Official tournament website
- Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) tournament profile
- Official live video website
- Stadium Journey Article
Coordinates: 41°55′45.20″N 12°27′21.46″E / 41.9292222°N 12.4559611°E