Top five ATP players with most singles main draw appearances at Italian Open

Rafael Nadal is one of the most successful players in Rome, with a 70-9 record at the venue.

The annual Italian Open, held at the Foro Italico in Rome, attracts the world’s best players each year. The ATP 1000 event is played on clay and serves as a testing ground for Roland Garros. However, the Internazionali BNL d’Italia is a significant event in the ATP calendar and has seen more than a few legends carve their names onto the list of champions.    

The men of the ATP Tour make a beeline for the venue over the year as they look to lay their hands on the winner’s trophy at least once in their careers. These players regularly participated in the Rome and Italian Opens during their careers and hold the record for playing there the most times in the Open Era.  

These players made Rome and the Italian Open regular stops in their careers and hold the record for playing there the most times in the Open Era.

Roger Federer – 17

Close behind is Roger Federer, who has been unable to lift the Italian Open trophy in any of his 17 trips to Rome. Federer’s 34-16 record in Rome doesn’t tell the whole story. The Swiss maestro made it to the title round on four occasions – 2003, 2006, 2013, and 2015, but was thwarted each time.

He was defeated by Spain’s Felix Mantilla in 2003, by Rafael Nadal in 2006 and 2013, and by Novak Djokovic in 2015. Federer’s efforts at the Monte-Carlo Masters did not yield the desired result, though he managed to win three titles on the clay courts at Madrid.

It is no surprise that Federer’s classic serve and volley game, which worked so well at Wimbledon, saw him struggle on clay. 

Also Read: Top 10 active tennis players with most ATP titles

Novak Djokovic – 18

With six titles at the Italian Open, Novak Djokovic is the second most successful player behind Rafael Nadal at the clay-court ATP 1000 event. In all, the Serb made it to twelve finals in Rome and turned the tide to win the title against Nadal twice (2011, 2014).

The Foro Italico crowd watched Djokovic find success away from hard courts, the surface where he earned most of his titles. The former World No. 1 has a 68-12 record at the Italian Open, and his decision not to play the 2025 edition leaves him one short of Nadal’s 19 appearances at the venue. 

Stan Wawrinka – 18

Stan Wawrinka’s journey at the Italian Open witnessed the 40-year-old Swiss veteran reach the finals in 2008, where he lost to Djokovic. Wawrinka conjured up another deep run at the Eternal City when he made the semi-finals in 2015, but could not find a way past compatriot Roger Federer.

Among Wawrinka’s 27 wins at Rome, victory over the ‘King of Clay,’ Rafael Nadal, in the 2015 quarter-final deserves a mention. Although success at the Italian Open eluded him, he won the ATP 1000 title in nearby Monte-Carlo, defeating Federer in the 2014 final. 

Also Read: Top 10 male players with most ATP titles before turning 22

Fabio Fognini – 18

Fognini announced earlier this week that the 2025 Italian Open will be his last ATP 1000 event. The Sanremo native, who made his debut in 2006, has a 16-17 record at the clay-court event and was a quarterfinalist in 2018. The 37-year-old’s win over then World No. 1 Andy Murray in 2017 was another highlight of his many visits to the Italian Open. 

The Italian brought the curtains down on his final outing in the Italian capital with a straight loss to Britain’s Jacob Fearnley despite the local crowd supporting Fognini. The Briton had to rally back from a breakdown in each set before prevailing 6-2, 6-3 in 80 minutes.

Rafael Nadal – 19

Following his debut win in 2005, Rafael Nadal became a familiar face at Foro Italico. The Spaniard made 19 main draw appearances and won ten titles with a 70-9 win-loss record at the ATP 1000 event. On seven of those ten occasions, Nadal won the Monte Carlo and the Rome Masters in the same season. 

Ten titles from 12 finals make the Italian Open Nadal’s fourth most successful event after Roland Garros, Barcelona, and Monte Carlo. Between 2009 and 2014, he played six consecutive finals in Italy and won four.  

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