Italian Court Icon Nicola Pietrangeli Passes Away at 92
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 icon: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double French Open champion, left us at ninety-two.
He carved his legacy by emerging as the pioneering Italian to capture a Grand Slam singles title, securing his first triumph at the French Open in 1959 and successfully defending the prestigious trophy a year later.
With a remarkable 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was widely considered the country's greatest ever player until the rise of current world number two and four-time major winner Jannik Sinner.
"Italian tennis is mourning an legend. Nicola Pietrangeli, the sole Italian inducted in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, has passed away," confirmed the national federation.
In addition to his two French Open victories, Pietrangeli also reached the final in Paris in the years 1961 and 1964.
He set a record 164 matches played for Italy in the prestigious team competition, winning 120 of them, and led his country to its first title in 1976.
Organisers of the Italian Open, an event where he was a double winner, commented: "We are profoundly saddened that we say goodbye to Nicola Pietrangeli, a true legend of Italian tennis..."
