Italian Court Icon Nicola Pietrangeli Has Died at Ninety-Two
The tennis champion stands as among a select trio of Italian men to win a major singles title.
Italian sport says goodbye to a authentic pioneer: Nicola Pietrangeli, a two-time French Open champion, passed away at 92.
Pietrangeli etched his name by becoming the first Italian to secure a Grand Slam singles title, securing his first triumph at the French Open in 1959 and successfully defending the coveted trophy in 1960.
With a remarkable 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was universally regarded as the nation's greatest ever player until the rise of current star and four-times major winner Jannik Sinner.
"Italian tennis is mourning an legend. Nicola Pietrangeli, the sole Italian enrolled in the World Tennis Hall of Fame, has died," confirmed the Italian Tennis Federation.
In addition to his two French Open successes, Pietrangeli also finished as runner-up in Paris in the years 1961 and 1964.
He set a remarkable 164 matches played for Italy in the prestigious team competition, winning 120 of them, and led his country to its first title in 1976.
Officials 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 true legend of Italian tennis..."
