Internazionali BNL d’Italia, Rome Masters Draw 2024

The 2024 Italian Open draw is out, and main draw action will get underway on Wednesday, May 8th, at yet another 12-day Masters 1000 tournament.

Ahead of the draw, Carlos Alcaraz and home favourite Jannik Sinner were forced to withdraw. The Spaniard is still not over his forearm injury, which kept him out of Monte Carlo and Barcelona and hampered him in Madrid.

Sinner has a right hip injury that worsened during the three matches he played in the Spanish capital, and he’s revealed that an MRI scan found an issue he needs to manage carefully.

World number two stated in his press conference that the French Open could also be in doubt, but this could be PR talk to ensure the Italian public doesn’t just think he’s skipping Rome to guarantee his fitness for Paris.

You can see the 2024 Rome Masters draw below, a quick breakdown of each section, and the likely outcomes.

Tournament Info

Internazionali BNL d’Italia 2024 Seeds

1. 1. Novak Djokovic
   2. Daniil Medvedev
   3. Alexander Zverev
   4. Casper Ruud
   5. Stefanos Tsitsipas
   6. Andrey Rublev
   7. Hubert Hurkacz
   8. Grigor Dimitrov
   9. Alex de Minaur
   10. Holger Rune
   11. Taylor Fritz
   12. Ben Shelton
   13. Ugo Humbert
   14. Tommy Paul
   15. Alexander Bublik
   16. Karen Khachanov
   17. Sebastián Báez
   18. Félix Auger-Aliassime
   19. Adrian Mannarino
   20. Francisco Cerúndolo
   21. Nicolás Jarry
   22. Frances Tiafoe
   23. Tallon Griekspoor
   24. Sebastian Korda
   25. Tomás Martín Etcheverry
   26. Lorenzo Musetti
   27. Cameron Norrie
   28. Mariano Navone
   29. Alejandro Tabilo
   30. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina
   31. Arthur Fils
   32. Jordan Thompson

Withdrawals:

Wildcards:

2024 Rome Masters Draw

Top Half

Bottom Half

PDF Singles Draw

PDF Qualifying Draw

Thoughts on the Draw

Top Quarter

Seeded players: Novak Djokovic (1), Casper Ruud (5), Ben Shelton (12), Karen Khachanov (16), Adrian Mannarino (19), Jordan Thompson (32)

Novak Djokovic enters the Italian Open as the number one seed. In his opening match later this week, he’ll face either a qualifier or Roman Safiullin.

Alejandro Tabilo could be his foe in round three. The Chilean is heading into Rome after winning the Aix-en-Provence, which had a stacked draw for a challenger tournament, so I expect him to offer a fair bit of resistance.

16th seed Karen Khachanov is seeded to meet Djokovic in the fourth round, but the Russian has never been past the last sixteen in Rome, and it’s statistically his worst Masters 1000 tournament. Fabian Marozsan and Francisco Cerundolo are also in this section.

Casper Ruud is likely to be the opponent in the quarter-finals. Rome’s traditional clay courts suit his game perfectly. He’s made the semi-finals in three of the last four years and has a 76% win: loss record at the Foro Italico.

Should Novak make the last four, former champion Sascha Zverev is the third seed. While his quarter isn’t filled with danger, a few names will fancy their chances after his loss in Madrid, including Mariano Navone, Tallon Griekspoor, Taylor Fritz, and Grigor Dimitrov.

The second seed is defending champion Daniil Medvedev, but his status is currently unknown, given his mid-match retirement during the Madrid Open quarter-finals.

Djokovic’s Path to the Final

Second Quarter

Seeded players: Alexander Zverev (3), Grigor Dimitrov (8), Taylor Fritz (11), Alexander Bublik (15), Tallon Griekspoor (23), Sebastian Korda (24), Lorenzo Musetti (26), Mariano Navone (28)

2017 champion Sascha Zverev finds himself in the second quarter and will start against Aleksandar Vukic or a qualifier.

Fresh from winning the Sardegna challenger, Mariano Navone is also in this section and is now seeded, which is somewhat crazy given that he’s never been past the first round of qualifying at a Grand Slam 😂. Tallon Griekspoor is also in this section and can find solid results on all surfaces.

The eighth seed, Dimitrov, a previous semi-finalist in Rome, finds himself in an exciting part of the draw that features the 11th seed, Taylor Fritz, alongside Italian crowd favourites Lorenzo Musetti, Flavio Cobolli, and Fabio Fognini.

Can Fritz replicate his form from Munich and Madrid? Rome is much more of a typical European clay court, so seeing how his big serve and forehand-based game fare there will be interesting.

Third Quarter

Seeded players: Andrey Rubev (4), Stefanos Tsitsipas (6), Alex de Minaur (9), Ugo Humbert (13), Felix Auger-Aliassime (18), Nicolas Jarry (21), Cameron Norrie (27), Arthur Fils (31).

Newly crowned Madrid champion Andrey Rublev heads up in the third quarter, and he’s got a tricky start against Emil Ruusuvuori or Marcos Giron in his opening match.

The fourth-seeded Rublev is seeded to meet Monte-Carlo winner Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarter-finals. However, the  Greek could have his hands complete with Struff in the second round and Alex de Minaur, his slated fourth-round opponent.

Bottom Quarter

Seeded players: Daniil Medvedev (2), Hubert Hurkacz (7), Holger Rune (10), Tommy Paul (14), Sebastian Baez (17), Frances Tiafoe (22), Tomas Martin Etcheverry (25), Alejandro Davidovich-Fokina (30).

With Alcaraz and Sinner withdrawing, Medvedev is bumped to second seed and sits in the bottom quarter alongside Rafael Nadal.

The 10-time champion would be a quarter-final opponent for Medvedev, but will either of them get there? Nadal looked a step slow in Madrid, while Medvedev could barely move in his quarter-final, where he retired after losing the first set.

Nadal will start against a qualifier, and a victory there would set up a trick second-round encounter with big-serving Hubert Hurkacz in a first-time meeting between the pair.

Medvedev also has a tricky start, beginning his title defence against Borna Coric or Jack Draper.

Medvedev’s Path to the Final

Interesting First-Round Matches

Who is your 2024 Italian Open champion? Let me know in the comments.