Rome Masters 1000 2026 Preview: Speed & Conditions

This is my preview of the Rome Masters 1000 (Internazionali BNL d'Italia).

The Rome Masters 1000 qualifying phase is over and the first main draw matches will begin on Wednesday.

Speed Data

Rome is played on medium-pace clay courts.

These are the average stats of the last five years:

69.1% Points won on the First Serve
77.0% Service Holds
0.33 Aces/Game
0.16 TB/Set

In terms of speed, the conditions in Rome are slower compared to Geneva, Madrid, Gstaad, Kitzbuhel, Houston and Marrakech. All except Houston, tournaments held at an altitude of over 400 meters.

Rome leads the group of tournaments that come afterwards.

When compared to the other Clay Masters 1000 tournament that is not played on altitude (Monte Carlo), Rome tends to exhibit faster speed data. Apart from the clay, the hotter weather prevailing during the tournament dates, which directly impacts the speed, as illustrated in this graph, might be behind this difference.

If we take the last 5 years, the average % of First serve Points Won in Rome is 69.1%, versus 67.1% for Monte Carlo. 2 points is quite a big difference. Rome is quite faster than Monte Carlo.

Past Winners

2025: Alcaraz d. Sinner

2024: Zverev d. Jarry

2023: Medvedev d. Rune

2022: Djokovic d. Tsitsipas

2021: Nadal d. Djokovic

Nadal has won this tournament 10 times and Djokovic 6.

Weather

During the first few days in Rome, conditions look a bit unsettled: mild temperatures around 22–23°C / 72–74°F, relatively high humidity, some cloud and possible showers, so the court may feel heavier and slower. As we move into the weekend and especially early next week, it should become warmer, with highs rising toward 26–29°C / 79–84°F, lighter-feeling conditions and probably a bit more pace through the air. Overall, wind should stay mostly moderate, around 10–20 km/h / 6–12 mph, so the bigger factor is likely to be humidity/rain early and late in the period, versus warmer, quicker conditions around the middle.

Player Quotes

Rybakina, 2026: "The difference is big. Here the ball doesn't fly as much. I feel the court is a bit softer, so the balls are heavier. You always have to be well positioned behind the ball and hit with your whole body. The conditions are different, but I've had time to practice. I still have a couple more days. So far it has gone well, I would say."

Musetti, 2026: "I only stepped on the Pietrangeli yesterday, today I'll train on the Central. We'll see if the conditions differ depending on the court. It's slower than Madrid, where the altitude speeds everything up, and more similar to Monte Carlo, at sea level. I don't see many differences compared to other seasons."

Thiem, 2026: "The transition from Madrid to Rome is really, really difficult. Madrid is high altitude, super fast court, and Rome is a bit slower, not high altitude anymore, so it is quite different. That's why I think if somebody is playing super well in Madrid, that doesn't mean that they will also continue playing super well in Rome."

Zverev, 2025: "The balls are much slower this year. They say it’s the same ball, but there’s no way—it feels totally different. I’m stringing my racket three kilos lower than in the rest of the clay season."

Ruud, 2025: "The conditions here are significantly slower than in Madrid; I think all players would tell you the same. Even though we say this is standard clay, Madrid’s surface is more unusual.”

Griekspoor, 2025: "It’s slow conditions here, especially coming from Madrid. But the sun came out and that helped. I felt like the Centre Court is maybe a little faster than the other courts."

"It’s quite a slow court so I was surprised to see 16 aces on the board, but I’m really happy with my serve today. I wasn't happy with the rain at the start as it makes it a lot slower, but then the sun came."

Napolitano, 2024: "I had some difficulty getting used to the conditions on the Grandstand, at the beginning it seemed like the ball was coming to me quicker than on the Pietrangeli".

Hurkacz, 2024 (after beating Etcheverry): "Especially here on Pietrangelli it is quite slow. There is more clay I think than on other courts so you have to be quite patient. It is hard to be aggressive after only one shot, you have to combine shots. I think this is the most confident I have felt about my game on clay. Tomas is a great player, it gives me confidence to get through this one."

Rublev, 2024: "The difference between the day and the night conditions is huge. I had to get used to some really long rallies because the ball was not moving."

Medvedev, 2024: “It was not easy. The conditions are different from last year and also from Monte Carlo and Madrid. It is is much heavier here and it is hard to make a winner. I saw it in other matches and knew it would be tiring, I knew this before the match."

Sinner, 2022: “Sure, the ball is heavier in the evening. I don't mind that, I think I play well even when the ball doesn't reach me with so much weight. But on the other hand, playing during the day is easier and the serve can help. We need to change the way we play because in the evening with the humidity things change.”

Zverev, 2022: “I'm very pleased, especially coming from Madrid to here. It's not always not easy because Madrid is at altitude and the balls are flying like crazy, but here everything is pretty slow.”

Fognini, 2022: "Of course I need to do some things on my game, try to push harder because conditions are really slow," said Fognini. “These kind of conditions are tough for everyone.”

Thiem, 2021: “Historically, I've always had some adjustment problems here [in Rome] after playing Madrid, it's like I never have enough time to prepare. Luckily I played well in Madrid, although it will take me time to adapt to these conditions, at sea level. I think it is also a different kind of clay, much slower, obviously, the conditions are totally different.”

Travaglia, 2020: “Each court has different conditions: the Central is slower, the Grand Stand is faster especially in the afternoon.”

Summary

It's clay without altitude, and the conditions will depend on the weather, which initially doesn't indicate much heat. But this can change, so, as always, I suggest keeping an eye on the weather in Rome.

During the day, if it's sunny, the conditions are quicker and the ball bounces very high. This is why Nadal has won so many times here.

During the night and when the weather is cloudy, humid or rainy, the conditions are more on the slow side.

For those players coming from Madrid, it's important to be able to adapt to the non-altitude conditions of Rome. Although, generally, this won't be a problem for most players, as there are enough days to adjust (first main draw matches are on Wednesday).

A surprise from big servers and players not so suited to clay, especially on sunny days, might not be all that uncommon.

Draws

Here’s the links to the draws, that you can check it anytime to follow the latest updates and see which players advance through each round:

Main draw: https://www.protennislive.com/posting/2026/416/mds.pdf
Qualifying draw: https://www.protennislive.com/posting/2026/416/qs.pdf

Favorites vs Underdogs

To see how favorites and underdogs have performed historially in Rome, you can now check it in my new app, FavOrDog.

More info here: https://favordog.io/