Italian Tennis Legend Nicola Pietrangeli Dies at the Age of 92
The tennis champion remains among a select trio of Italian men to win a Grand Slam singles title.
Italian sport says goodbye to a authentic icon: Nicola Pietrangeli, a two-time French Open champion, has died at the age of 92.
The player made history by emerging as the initial Italian to capture a Grand Slam singles title, achieving his maiden triumph at the French Open in 1959 and successfully defending the prestigious trophy a year later.
With an impressive 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was long held to be the nation's finest player prior to the advent of current world number two and four-time 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 national federation.
Beyond his pair of French Open successes, Pietrangeli also finished as runner-up in Paris in the years 1961 and 1964.
He set a record 164 matches played for Italy in the Davis Cup, winning 120 of them, and spearheaded his country to its first title in 1976.
Officials of the Italian Open, an event where he was a double winner, commented: "We are profoundly saddened that we bid farewell to Nicola Pietrangeli, a veritable legend of Italian tennis..."
