The event is the second international tournament to go ahead amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The fact that the major sporting event is being held without the public has been slammed as an “enormous injustice” by the Italian Tennis Federation (FIT).
Last year’s tournament brought in 220,000 spectators, but organisers were hoping to deal with coronavirus regulations by restricting numbers at this year’s event, which begins on Monday, to 6000 per day in four separate zones.
“It is a huge injustice,” FIT president Angelo Binaghi said during a press conference in Rome.
“While other sports, in other [Italian] regions, have been authorised to accommodate thousands of people, no one will be able to enter the biggest sporting event in our country.”
The Italian government has given the go-ahead to small numbers of fans at several other sporting events, notably Formula One’s Tuscany Grand Prix in Mugello and the MotoGP meeting in San Marino, both of which are scheduled to take place next weekend.
But bigger events will continue to be played behind closed doors as the current coronavirus restrictions were kept in place under a new emergency decree on Monday.
Binaghi said health authorities had rejected their suggested safety measures, and were not swayed by the French Tennis Federation allowing 11,500 per day for the French Open in Paris later in the month.
“The damage is enormous,” he said.
“If we had known before, we would have organised the tournament in another region, in Genoa for example, or in Puglia.”
With the exception of Roger Federer, who is taking time off for knee surgery, the tournament will host the top tennis players in the world.
The championship will feature Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka, to name a few.
Players travelling to Rome from the US Open will reportedly have a special permit to be able to play without the 14-day quarantine period required for those entering Italy from the United States.
