2021 Italian Open – Men's singles explained

Champ:	Rafael Nadal
Runner:	Novak Djokovic
Score:	7–5, 1–6, 6–3
Draw:	56 (8 / 5)
Seeds:	16

See main article: article and 2021 Italian Open (tennis).

Rafael Nadal defeated the defending champion Novak Djokovic in the final, 7–5, 1–6, 6–3 to win the men's singles tennis title at the 2021 Italian Open.^[1] It was his record-extending tenth Italian Open title and record-equaling 36th and final Masters 1000 title overall (matching Djokovic's tally). Nadal saved two match points en route to the title, in his third round match against Denis Shapovalov.^[2] This marked the fourth tournament that Nadal had won on 10 or more occasions (in addition to the French Open, the Monte-Carlo Masters, and the Barcelona Open), making him the only tennis player to do so.^[3]

It was Djokovic's sixth runners-up finish at the Italian Open, a record for the most runners-up finishes at one event on the ATP Tour. (Djokovic equaled this record later that year at the US Open, while attempting to complete the Grand Slam).^[4]

Lorenzo Sonego became the first Italian man to reach the semifinals in Rome since Filippo Volandri in 2007.^[5]

Seeds

The top eight seeds received a bye into the second round.

Draw

Top half

Section 2

Bottom half

Section 4

Qualifying

Qualifying draw

Seventh qualifier

ATP singles main-draw entrants

Seeds

The following are the seeded players. Seedings are based on ATP rankings as of 3 May 2021. Rankings and points before are as of 10 May 2021.

Seed	Rank	Player	Points before	Points defending	Points won	Points after	Status
1	1	Novak Djokovic	11,463	1,000	600	11,063	Runner-up, lost to Rafael Nadal [2]
2	3	Rafael Nadal	9,630	1,000	1,000	9,630	Champion, defeated Novak Djokovic [1]
3	2	Daniil Medvedev	9,780	10	45	9,815	Second round lost to Aslan Karatsev
4	4	Dominic Thiem	8,365	10	90	8,445	Third round lost to Lorenzo Sonego
5	5	Stefanos Tsitsipas	7,610	360	180	7,430	Quarterfinals lost to Novak Djokovic [1]
6	6	Alexander Zverev	6,945	10	180	7,115	Quarterfinals lost to Rafael Nadal [2]
7	7	Andrey Rublev	6,000	90	180	6,090	Quarterfinals lost to Lorenzo Sonego
8	10	Diego Schwartzman	3,765	345	45	3,465	Second round lost to Félix Auger-Aliassime
9	9	Matteo Berrettini	4,048	180	90	3,958	Third round lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas [5]
10	11	Roberto Bautista Agut	3,170	0	45	3,215	Third round lost to Andrey Rublev [7]
11	12	Pablo Carreño Busta	3,050	10	45	3,085	Second round, withdrew due to a low back injury
12	13	David Goffin	2,875	45	45	2,875	Second round lost to Federico Delbonis [Q]
13	14	Denis Shapovalov	2,855	360	180	2,675	Third round lost to Rafael Nadal [2]
14	15	Gaël Monfils	2,703	10	10	2,703	First round lost to Lorenzo Sonego
15	19	Hubert Hurkacz	2,543	55	10	2,498	First round retired against Lorenzo Musetti [WC]
16	17	Grigor Dimitrov	2,586	90	0	2,496