Italy's Tennis Great Nicola Pietrangeli Has Died at 92
The tennis champion remains one of only three Italian men to win a major singles title.
Italian sport says goodbye to a true pioneer: Nicola Pietrangeli, a two-time French Open champion, passed away at the age of 92.
He carved his legacy by emerging as the pioneering Italian to win a Grand Slam singles title, securing his first triumph at Roland Garros in 1959 and successfully defending the prestigious trophy the following year.
With a staggering 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was widely considered the nation's greatest ever player until the advent of current world number two and four-times major winner Jannik Sinner.
"Italian tennis is in mourning for an icon. Nicola Pietrangeli, the sole Italian honored in the World Tennis Hall of Fame, has died," confirmed the national federation.
Alongside his pair of French Open victories, Pietrangeli also was the finalist 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 led his country to its inaugural title in 1976.
Organisers of the Italian Open, an event where he was a two-time winner, commented: "It is with deep sadness that we bid farewell to Nicola Pietrangeli, a veritable legend of Italian tennis..."
