Eight home players have received main draw wild cards to the 2023 Internazionali BNL d'Italia, which starts on May 9.

The Italian octet is led by former World No.5 Sara Errani. The 35-year-old is the only Italian woman to have contested the Rome final in the past 25 years, having been runner-up to Serena Williams in 2014. Errani's storied career also includes a Grand Slam final showing at Roland Garros 2012 and nine WTA titles. In March, she returned to the Top 100 after a gap of nearly five years, and she is now ranked No.83.

Lucia Bronzetti has also been awarded a wild card. The 24-year-old also has experience of playing a WTA final on home soil: she was runner-up in Palermo last July to Irina-Camelia Begu. Bronzetti cracked the Top 50 in January after helping her country reach the inaugural United Cup final, but has since fallen to No.97.

Two players bubbling under the Top 100 will also compete in the Rome main draw. Lucrezia Stefanini, 24, broke through on the major stage in January when she qualified for her first Grand Slam main draw at the Australian Open, and defeated Tatjana Maria to make the second round. Stefanini, who plays with double-handed strokes on both sides, is now ranked No.117.

Highlights: Stefanini d. Maria, 2023 Australian Open R1

Nuria Brancaccio, 22, has also enjoyed her career-best results in the past eight months. She reached her first WTA 125 final in Bari last September, losing to Julia Grabher. Last month, she notched her first WTA quarterfinal appearance as a qualifier in Bogota, a performance that boosted her to her current No.170.

Highlights: Brancaccio d. Papamichail, 2023 Bogota R1

Three U21 players will be making their main draw debuts in Rome. Matilde Paoletti, 20, is a former Top 20 junior who cut her ranking from No.843 to No.298 over the course of 2022, a season that included her first WTA main draw victory in Parma and her first ITF W25 title in Verbier.

Highlights: Paoletti d. Lee, 2022 Parma R1

No.493-ranked Lisa Pigato, 19, was the 2020 Roland Garros girls' doubles champion alongside Eleonora Alvisi. She made her own notable WTA debut at Parma 2021, when she qualified for the main draw and faced none other than Serena Williams in the first round. Afterwards, the American great was impressed both by Pigato's performance and her gumption in requesting a post-match selfie -- happily supplied by Williams.

Highlights: S.Williams d. Pigato, 2021 Parma R1

Diletta Cherubini, 20, will be making her debut in the main draw of a WTA event. She has cut her ranking from No.764 at the end of 2021 to her present No.411.

The final main draw wild card has been awarded to No.259-ranked Camilla Rosatello. The 27-year-old, who made her WTA main draw debut as a Rome wild card in 2018, was part of Italy's United Cup team in January.

Qualifying wild cards have been awarded to Deborah Chiesa, Martina Colmegna, Angelica Moratelli, Anna Turati and Federica Urgesi.