The 1997 Italian Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts.

It was the 54th edition of the Italian Open and was part of the ATP Super 9 of the 1997 ATP Tour and of Tier I of the 1997 WTA Tour.

Both the men's and women's events were held at the Foro Italico in Rome, Italy.

Àlex Corretja and Mary Pierce, who were both seeded tenth, won the singles titles.

[3] Àlex Corretja defeated Marcelo Ríos 7–5, 7–5, 6–3 Mary Pierce defeated Conchita Martínez 6–4, 6–0 Mark Knowles / Daniel Nestor defeated Byron Black / Alex O'Brien 6–3, 4–6, 7–5 Nicole Arendt / Manon Bollegraf defeated Conchita Martínez / Patricia Tarabini 6–2, 6–4