Azzurri Tennis Great Nicola Pietrangeli Dies at the Age of 92
The tennis champion is among a select trio of Italian men to win a Grand Slam singles title.
Italian sport says goodbye to a true icon: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double French Open champion, left us at 92.
The player made history by emerging as the pioneering Italian to win a Grand Slam singles title, securing his initial triumph at Roland Garros in 1959 and successfully defending the coveted trophy the following year.
With a remarkable 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was widely considered the nation's greatest ever player prior to the emergence of current world number two and four-time major winner Jannik Sinner.
"The sport in Italy is mourning an legend. Nicola Pietrangeli, the only Italian enrolled in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, has passed away," confirmed the national federation.
Beyond his two French Open victories, Pietrangeli also reached the final in Paris in both 1961 and 1964.
He boasts a record 164 matches played for Italy in the Davis Cup, winning 120 of them, and spearheaded his country to its maiden title in 1976.
Officials of the Italian Open, where he was a two-time winner, said: "We are profoundly saddened that we say goodbye to Nicola Pietrangeli, a veritable legend of Italian tennis..."
