Italy's Tennis Legend Nicola Pietrangeli Has Died at Ninety-Two
The tennis champion is among a select trio of Italian men to claim a major singles title.
Italian sport mourns a authentic icon: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double French Open champion, left us at the age of 92.
Pietrangeli etched his name by becoming the initial Italian to win a Grand Slam singles title, earning his initial triumph at Roland Garros in 1959 and retaining the coveted trophy a year later.
With an impressive 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was universally regarded as the nation's finest player until the advent of current world number two and four-times major winner Jannik Sinner.
"Italian tennis is grieving an legend. Nicola Pietrangeli, the only Italian honored in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, has passed away," stated the national federation.
Beyond his two French Open successes, Pietrangeli also reached the final in Paris in both 1961 and 1964.
He set a record 164 matches played for Italy in the Davis Cup, securing victories in 120 of them, and led his country to its maiden title in 1976.
Organisers of the Italian Open, an event where he was a two-time winner, stated: "We are profoundly saddened that we say goodbye to Nicola Pietrangeli, a veritable legend of Italian tennis..."
