Tennis

Sinner-Alcaraz, the ideal final for a tournament that broke all records

The men's final brings to a close an edition of the Internazionali d'Italia that has shattered records in terms of ticket sales and economic impact

by Marco Bellinazzo

17 May 2025

4' min read

Key points

Record takings and spectators
Sponsorships
The Growth of the Foro Italico
The roof of the Central
Montepremi

4' min read

Jannik Sinner against Carlos Alcaraz. Perhaps only the all-Italian challenge with Lorenzo Musetti, defeated in the semifinals by the Spaniard, would have been a more impressive epilogue to an edition of the Internazionali d'Italia that broke all records.

On Sunday afternoon the two strongest tennis players in the world will face each other on the Foro Italico - and at 12 noon Errani and Paolini will take on Kudermetova-Mertens, the Russian-Belgian pair, in the final act of the women's doubles - giving further prestige to the Roman tournament, which in terms of prestige and importance is ranked only behind the Four Slams. And it is no coincidence that the ambition is to push for a reform of the calendar that could expand the main events of world tennis to five in the future.

Record takings and spectators

On the eve of the event, the President of the Italian Tennis and Padel Federation Angelo Binaghi had spoken of the concrete possibility of reaching 400,000 spectators in total. A very close goal by now, also thanks to the successes achieved on the court by the Italian athletes and atheltes. Until the day before yesterday, more than 380,000 tickets had been sold for a total of 35 million, compared to 28.5 in 2024, an increase of more than 20 per cent (356,424 tickets were sold in 2024 and 298,537 in 2023).

The profits generated by the Internazionali Italico, as the Federation is not a profit-making company, will be reinvested in full to support the development of grassroots tennis.

The total economic impact generated by the tournament in 2024 rose to 615.6 million (of which 274.6 direct, 233 indirect and 108 induced) compared to the total 491 million in 2023. But as Binaghi pointed out, one could 'reach one billion euros of economic impact on the territory within two or three years'.

Sponsorships

The other pillar of the event's revenue is represented by the commercial partners, starting with Title Sponsor BNL BNP Paribas, which has supported the Roman tournament for 19 years. Among the confirmations for 2025 are BMW Official Car of the event and Reale Mutua, the most important Italian insurance company, still among the Official Partners. Starting from this edition, EA7 Emporio Armani has acquired the title of Official Outfitter and will dress the ball boys and the technical staff. The event is also supported by 19 Official Partners: Algida, Asti DOCG, Auricchio, Dunlop, eCampus, Edison, Emirates, EMU, Frecciarossa, Hologic, La Roche Posay, Rolex, Rummo, Yokohama Tyres, TicketOne, Valmora and VeChain, to which Peroni and Polaroid have been added since 2025.

The Growth of the Foro Italico

The investments wanted by Fitp and Sport and Health, led by president Marco Mezzaroma and Ad Diego Nepi Molineris, owner of the Foro Italico site, to expand the site and make it more welcoming, have thus been rewarded. The extension was increased from 10 hectares to 20 hectares with an increase in capacity. The Foro Italico used to be able to hold around 33,000 people and from this year it will be able to hold 55,000. The seating capacity has been increased by 7 thousand to 33 per cent. In addition, there are 4 additional courts and 4 thousand more square metres for food & beverage and commercial areas (+30%). Inside the Stadio dei Marmi there is a stadium with more than 3 thousand seats - the SuperTennis Arena - and two more training courts with stands with 800 seats each. In total there are 9 courts for playing and 12 for training. Among those reserved for training, in collaboration with Difesa Servizi, two courts with grandstands have been set up on the Tiber under the Ponte della Musica. The Fan Village has also been totally renovated.

The Roof of the Central

The next structural investment will concern the roofing of the Centrale. This has been talked about for some time, but the president of Sport and Health, Marco Mezzaroma, has announced that the redevelopment work will begin after the 2026 Italian Internationals for a duration of 18 months. The investment will be around 60 million euro by Sport and Health with the aim of making the facility live, even beyond tennis, for at least 150 days a year, with revenues of around 22 million euro. The new facility will be able to accommodate 18 disciplines and will attract an estimated 1.5 million spectators per year. Tennis will be able to have 2,000 more seats, as well as minimise the risk of rain-related postponements like the biggest international events.

Montepremi

A significant prize money is planned for the Internazionali di Roma. In the men's tournament it has risen to 8.1 million euros. The singles winner will get 985 thousand euros, while those who reach the final but are defeated will still receive 524 thousand euros. Semi-finalists will be awarded 291,000 euros, for access to the quarters 166,000, 90,000 in the round of 16, with a guaranteed minimum of 21,000 euros for those who went out in the first round.

In the women's field, the jackpot is around two million euros. The winner gets a cheque for €877,390.

In order to overcome the historical disparity in prize money between the men's and women's tournaments due essentially to the dynamics of sponsorship and the tennis market, the Italian Tennis and Padel Federation has embarked on a three-year plan of progressive rebalancing, again following the policy adopted in the Slams.