Rome Open records record attendance despite stadiums being empty for a large majority of tournament

The 2023 Rome Open was a rather troublesome one for the organizers as they faced many issues with the weather and faced backlash over some curious decisions.

Scheduling in tennis will likely remain a topic that will never reach a satisfactory conclusion. There are differences between what the players want and what organizers want. For the latter, it's mostly about maximizing attendance and revenue which is why late-night matches aren't going away any time soon.

Players don't like it but it works as this year's Rome Open edition proves. Despite the rain and many other problems like the cost of tickets, the event still managed to break its record in attendance. 298.138 fans watched the event from the stands and that's the most in recent year. That bodes well for the event as future editions should see better weather and thus more attendance.