Azzurri Tennis Icon Nicola Pietrangeli Has Died at Ninety-Two
The tennis champion stands as among a select trio of Italian men to secure a major singles title.
Italian sport says goodbye to a genuine pioneer: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double French Open champion, left us at 92.
Pietrangeli etched his name by becoming the initial Italian to capture a Grand Slam singles title, securing his maiden triumph at the French Open in 1959 and successfully defending the coveted trophy in 1960.
With an impressive 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was long held to be the nation's finest player until the emergence of current world number two and four-time major winner Jannik Sinner.
"Italian tennis is in mourning for an legend. Nicola Pietrangeli, the only Italian inducted in the World Tennis Hall of Fame, has died," announced the national federation.
In addition to his two French Open successes, Pietrangeli also finished as runner-up in Paris in the years 1961 and 1964.
He holds a record 164 matches played for Italy in the Davis Cup, winning 120 of them, and guided his country to its first title in 1976.
Officials of the Italian Open, where he was a two-time winner, stated: "We are profoundly saddened that we bid farewell to Nicola Pietrangeli, a veritable legend of Italian tennis..."
