The Italian Open men’s singles draw has been revealed – with home favourite Jannik Sinner back in action for the first time since his Australian Open triumph.
World No 1 Sinner’s three-month suspension for a doping violation ended on Sunday, allowing the Italian to return to competitive tennis on home soil at the Foro Italico this week.
After receiving a round-one bye, the 23-year-old will face either world No 99 Mariano Navone or Italian 17-year-old Federico Cina in his first match back.
However, he could then be in line for tougher tests, with Sinner projected to face 25th seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in round three, and 15th seed Frances Tiafoe in round four.
Sinner is then expected to face a quarter-final against sixth seed and newly-crowned Madrid Open champion Casper Ruud, before a semi-final versus fourth seed Taylor Fritz.
Three-time Rome semi-finalist Ruud could face a blockbuster third-round clash against 29th seed Matteo Berrettini, who will hope to be at full fitness on home turf after retiring injured in Madrid.
The Norwegian is also projected to face 12th seed Ben Shelton in the round of 16 before a hypothetical quarter-final against Sinner.
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Fourth seed Fritz was a Rome quarter-finalist back in 2024 and could face a tricky opening-match test against Madrid surprise package Gabriel Diallo, who opens against Marcos Giron.
The American is then projected to face 30th seed Hubert Hurkacz in the third round, before a potential fourth-round encounter versus 16th seed Andrey Rublev or 20th seed Jakub Mensik.
Fritz is in the same quarter of the draw as seventh seed Alex de Minaur, who faces a tricky opener against one of two Italians: Luca Nardi or Flavio Cobolli.
The bottom half of the draw is headlined by second seed Alexander Zverev and third seed Carlos Alcaraz, who are projected to meet in the semi-final.
Defending champion Zverev is searching for his third Italian Open title and, after a round-one bye, will start his campaign against a qualifier or Camilo Ugo Carabelli.
The German is projected to face 27th seed Denis Shapovalov in round three, and could face one of 13th seed Arthur Fils or 18th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in the fourth round.
Zverev was drawn in the same quarter as eighth seed and home favourite Lorenzo Musetti, who is projected to face 10th seed and 2023 champion Daniil Medvedev in the fourth round.
Alcaraz will be making just his second main-draw appearance in Rome, having withdrawn from the event due to injury in 2024.
The Spaniard will face Jan-Lennard Struff or Yoshihito Nishioka in the second round, and is projected to face 31st seed Alex Michelsen in round three.
World No 3 Alcaraz is then projected to take on 14th seed Grigor Dimitrov in the fourth round, before a projected quarter-final versus fifth seed Jack Draper and semi-final versus third seed Zverev.
New world No 5 and Madrid runner-up Draper could face 32nd seed Sebastian Baez in the third round and ninth seed Holger Rune in the round of 16.
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