Italian Open organizers want to make the tournament a 5th Grand Slam

ROME (AP) — Top-ranked Jannik Sinner is dominating men’s tennis and Italy swept both the Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup team titles last year.

Jasmine Paolini just became the first home player to win the Italian Open in 40 years and is about to move up to No. 4 in the women’s rankings.

Players like Lorenzo Musetti, Federico Cinà and Tyra Caterina Grant provide the potential for Italy to dominate tennis for years to come.

Still, Italian Tennis and Padel Federation president Angelo Binaghi wants more. Much more.

Binaghi has the grandiose aim to make the Italian Open a fifth Grand Slam tournament alongside the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open — upending a century of tennis history.

“In what other part of society is there a monopoly that lasts for more than 100 years?” Binaghi said Sunday, the final day of the Italian Open. “Why are there always four and always the same four? … It's absolutely unfair and doesn’t help tennis grow.”

The Italian Open is a Masters Series event that is one rung below the Slams in the hierarchy of tennis tournaments. But the event at the Foro Italico now runs for two weeks like the majors and is booming thanks to the successes of Sinner, Paolini and many other Italian players.

Italy has also hosted the ATP Finals in Turin since 2021 and recently extended its hosting contract for the year-ending tournament featuring the top eight men's players through 2030. Also, the Davis Cup Final 8 will begin a three-year run in Italy this November, starting in Bologna.

“We’re now the world champion both on the court and at the organizational level,” Binaghi said.

Earlier this year, Binaghi expressed interest in acquiring the license for the Madrid Open, which immediately precedes Rome in the tennis calendar. The idea was that eliminating Madrid and making Rome bigger could constitute a fifth Slam.

“We need to be attentive on the international market and try to take advantage of every opportunity that arises, from the smallest ATP 250 all the way up to the biggest tournaments,” Binaghi said.

Tournaments in Indian Wells, California, and Miami have also been mentioned as possible fifth Slams.

“I mean, it would be great for me, because I’m trying to win one,” said Alexander Zverev, a two-time Rome champion, when asked about the possibility earlier this year. “Is it possible to make one? Yeah, for sure. … Is it going to be seen as a Grand Slam by everyone — by the media, by the players? I don’t know.”

Added former Wimbledon and U.S. Open finalist Ons Jabeur, “We need to improve the structure we have right now more than to have a fifth Grand Slam. I feel like we can do much better things with the four Grand Slams we have and do better for players, for media, and for everyone else around it.”

A request for comment sent to the Grand Slam board, which represents the four majors, was not immediately answered.

After years of delays, organizers announced new plans to build a retractable roof over the Italian Open’s main stadium, Campo Centrale.

At a cost of 60 million euros ($67 million), the roof is slated to be ready for the 2028 tournament and will also result in 2,000 extra seats being added — increasing the capacity to 12,500.

For this year’s tournament, the event grounds at the Foro Italico were increased from 12 to 20 hectares (30 to 50 acres) and another statue-lined competition arena was added.

The Stadio dei Marmi hosted three courts: a 3,000-seat arena and two courts each featuring seating for 800.

The 3,000-seat arena became the tournament’s third-largest show court after Campo Centrale and the Grand Stand Arena, making the Pietrangeli court — which also features an array of statues — the fourth largest.

AP Tennis Writer Howard Fendrich in Miami Gardens, Florida, contributed to this report.

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

Italy's Jannik Sinner celebrates a winning point during a round of sixteen match against Argentina's Francisco Cerundolo at the Italian Open tennis tournament in Rome, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Italy's Jannik Sinner, left, shares a light moment with Pope Leo XIV on the occasion of their meeting at the Vatican, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (Vatican Media via AP)

Jasmine Paolini, of Italy, reacts to defeating Coco Gauff, of the United States, at the end of their Italian Open tennis match final, at the Foro Italico in Rome, Saturday, May 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

People watch a training session between Italy's Lorenzo Sonego, serving bottom, and Italy's Jannik Sinner at the Foro Italico in Rome, Italy, May 6, 2025 (Alfredo Falcone/LaPresse via AP)

Italy's Jannik Sinner, left, plays Norway's Casper Ruud during their quarterfinal tennis match at the Italian Open, at the Foro Italico, in Rome, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

BEIRUT (AP) — Israeli airstrikes Wednesday struck seven vehicles in Lebanon — three of them on the main highway just south of Beirut — killing 12 people including a woman and her two children, the Lebanese Health Ministry said.

The Israeli military said it struck Hezbollah infrastructure in several areas in southern Lebanon, hours after telling residents of six southern villages to evacuate.

Lebanon and Israel are scheduled to hold another round of direct talks in Washington on Thursday as the Trump administration pushes for a breakthrough between the two neighbors that have been in a state of war since Israel was created in 1948.

The Health Ministry confirmed the seven airstrikes on vehicles, but didn't provide full details of the number of people in each vehicle.

Two of Wednesday’s drone attacks hit a highway linking Beirut with the southern port city of Sidon, while a third struck the town of Saadiyat near the busy freeway, the state-run National news agency said. The Health Ministry said those strikes killed eight people in total, including the mother and children.

A fourth strike took place in the early afternoon near the northern entrance of Sidon, leaving one person dead and another wounded, the ministry said. It added that three other drone strikes on cars deeper in southern Lebanon killed three people.

An Associated Press photographer saw the bodies of three people killed in two of the strikes near the coastal towns of Barja and Jiyeh.

In southern Lebanon, Israeli airstrikes were reported in various towns and villages while Hezbollah claimed that it launched additional attacks on Israel as both sides keep exchanging fire despite a U.S.-brokered ceasefire on April 17.

Hezbollah also has been using drones in its attacks on Israeli forces.

The U.N. peacekeeping force deployed in southern Lebanon known as UNIFIL said Wednesday it is increasingly concerned about fighting between Hezbollah and Israeli soldiers near its positions, putting peacekeepers at risk, including with explosions of drones in and around U.N. bases.

UNIFIL said that a presumed Hezbollah drone detonated inside its headquarters in the coastal town of Naqoura on Tuesday, following earlier presumed Hezbollah drone detonations on Monday and Tuesday. No one was injured, but some buildings were damaged.

The latest Israel-Hezbollah war started on March 2, when the Lebanese militant group fired rockets into northern Israel two days after the United States and Israel attacked Iran.

The Health Ministry said Wednesday that since the war began, 2,896 have been killed and 8,824 wounded.

A mourner reacts over the coffin of Lebanese Civil Defense member, Hussein Jaber, who was killed on Tuesday in an Israeli airstrike during a funeral procession in the coastal city of Sidon, Lebanon, Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

Mourners react over the coffin of Lebanese Civil Defense member, Hussein Jaber, who was killed on Tuesday in an Israeli airstrike during a funeral procession in the coastal city of Sidon, Lebanon, Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

Security forces and emergency responders gather around a burning vehicle at the scene of an Israeli airstrike that hit a car, as a man attempts to put out the flames, in the coastal town of Jiyeh, south of Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Mustafa Jamalddine)

Security forces and emergency responders gather around a charred vehicle at the scene of an Israeli airstrike that hit a car, as a covered body lies on the ground, in the coastal town of Jiyeh, south of Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Mustafa Jamalddine)

A person is seen inside a burning vehicle as men attempt to put out the fire after an Israeli airstrike hit a car in the coastal town of Barja, south of Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Mustafa Jamalddine)