Entire Top 20 will be in Rome for the Internazionali BNL d'Italia

The entire Top 20 of the PIF WTA Rankings will be in Rome next month for the  Internazionali BNL d'Italia, the second consecutive WTA 1000 tournament following the Mutua Madrid Open.

World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka will headline the 96-player field at the Foro Italico. She'll be joined by WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz stars Elena Rybakina, Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek, Jessica Pegula, Amanda Anisimova, Elina Svitolina, Jasmine Paolini, Victoria Mboko and Mirra Andreeva.

Other notable names in the draw include Belinda Bencic, Naomi Osaka, Iva Jovic, Madison Keys, Emma Raducanu, Qinwen Zheng and Alexandra Eala.

There are 75 direct entrants into the tournament, and the last five spots went to Daria Kasatkina, Panna Udvardy, Kamilla Rakhimova, Oksana Selekhmeteva and Yulia Putintseva.

The first five main-draw alternates are Eva Lys, Zeynep Sonmez, Petra Marcinko, Solana Sierra and Viktorija Golubic.

There will also be 12 qualifiers in the main draw, eight wild cards -- still to be announced -- and a special exemption spot.

The draw will be revealed on May 4 at 11 a.m. local time.

Paolini is the defending champion in Rome. With Italian President Sergio Mattarella watching from the stands in Stadio Centrale, Paolini defeated Gauff 6-4, 6-2 in last year's final to become the first Italian woman in 40 years to win the Internazionali BNL d'Italia singles title. (Raffaella Reggi had last done it in 1985.) Seeded sixth, she dropped just one set in the tournament, and also picked up wins over Ons Jabeur, Diana Shnaider and Jelena Ostapenko.

Paolini also won the doubles title with Sara Errani, completing arguably the most memorable week of her career.

Other past champions in this year's field include Swiatek, (2021, 2022 and 2024), Rybakina (2023), Karolina Pliskova (2019) and Elina Svitolina (2017 and 2018). 

First-round singles action in Rome will kick off on May 5, and the tournament will run through May 17.