Italy's Tennis Icon Nicola Pietrangeli Passes Away at the Age of 92
The tennis champion remains among a select trio of Italian men to claim a major singles title.
Italian sport says goodbye to a authentic pioneer: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double French Open champion, left us at 92.
He carved his legacy by becoming the pioneering Italian to capture a Grand Slam singles title, earning his first triumph at the French Open in 1959 and successfully defending the prestigious trophy the following year.
With an impressive 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was universally regarded as the nation's greatest ever player until the emergence of current star and four-time major winner Jannik Sinner.
"The sport in Italy is mourning an icon. Nicola Pietrangeli, the only Italian enrolled in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, has died," confirmed the Italian Tennis Federation.
Beyond his pair of French Open triumphs, Pietrangeli also reached the final in Paris in the years 1961 and 1964.
He boasts a record 164 matches played for Italy in the Davis Cup, securing victories in 120 of them, and guided his country to its maiden title in 1976.
Officials of the Italian Open, an event where he was a two-time winner, said: "We are profoundly saddened that we bid farewell to Nicola Pietrangeli, a veritable legend of Italian tennis..."
