Italian Tennis Great Nicola Pietrangeli Has Died at 92
Nicola Pietrangeli is among a select trio of Italian men to claim a major 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 first Italian to win a Grand Slam singles title, earning his maiden triumph at Roland Garros in 1959 and retaining the coveted trophy the following year.
With an impressive 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was universally regarded as the country's greatest ever player until the rise of current star and four-times major winner Jannik Sinner.
"Italian tennis is grieving an legend. Nicola Pietrangeli, the only Italian honored in the World Tennis Hall of Fame, has passed away," confirmed the Italian Tennis Federation.
Beyond his pair of French Open triumphs, Pietrangeli also was the finalist in Paris in both 1961 and 1964.
He boasts a remarkable 164 matches played for Italy in the prestigious team competition, winning 120 of them, and guided his country to its maiden title in 1976.
Organisers of the Italian Open, an event where he was a double winner, commented: "It is with deep sadness that we bid farewell to Nicola Pietrangeli, a true legend of Italian tennis..."
