1997 Italian Open – Men's singles

Álex Corretja defeated Marcelo Ríos in the final, 7–5, 7–5, 6–3 to win the men's singles tennis title at the 1997 Italian Open.

Thomas Muster was the defending champion, but lost in the second round to Scott Draper.

Seeds

 * 1) 🇺🇸 Pete Sampras (first round)
 * 2) 🇺🇸 Michael Chang (first round)
 * 3) 🇦🇹 Thomas Muster (second round)
 * 4) 🇷🇺 Yevgeny Kafelnikov (third round)
 * 5) Richard Krajicek (second round)
 * 6) Goran Ivanišević (semifinals)
 * 7) Marcelo Ríos (final)
 * 8) 🇪🇸 Carlos Moyà (third round)
 * 9) Wayne Ferreira (first round)
 * 10) 🇪🇸 Álex Corretja (champion)
 * 11) 🇪🇸 Álbert Costa (third round)
 * 12) 🇩🇪 Boris Becker (third round)
 * 13) 🇪🇸 Félix Mantilla (first round)
 * 14) 🇬🇧 Tim Henman (second round)
 * 15) Marc Rosset (third round)
 * 16) 🇦🇺 Mark Philippoussis (first round)

Qualifying seeds
• # 🇫🇷 Fabrice Santoro (qualified)

• # 🇫🇷 Lionel Roux (qualifying competition)

• # 🇪🇸 Albert Portas (qualified)

• # 🇪🇸 Emilio Benfele Álvarez (qualified)

• # 🇦🇺 Richard Fromberg (first round)

• # 🇪🇸 Carlos Costa (first round)

• # 🇦🇷 Franco Squillari (qualifying competition)

• # 🇩🇪 Nicolas Kiefer (first round)

• # 🇫🇷 Jérôme Golmard (qualified)

• # 🇩🇪 Martin Sinner (qualifying competition)

• # 🇪🇸 Fernando Vicente (qualifying competition)

• # Frederik Fetterlein (qualified)

• # 🇦🇷 Gastón Etlis (qualifying competition)

• # 🇦🇷 Mariano Zabaleta (first round)

• # 🇫🇷 Olivier Delaître (first round)

• # 🇦🇷 Guillermo Cañas (first round)

Qualifiers
• # 🇫🇷 Fabrice Santoro

• # 🇮🇹 Davide Sanguinetti

• # 🇪🇸 Albert Portas

• # 🇪🇸 Emilio Benfele Álvarez

• # Frederik Fetterlein

• # 🇮🇹 Daniele Musa

• # 🇫🇷 Jérôme Golmard

• # 🇮🇹 Davide Scala