Azzurri Tennis Icon Nicola Pietrangeli Dies at Ninety-Two
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, passed away at ninety-two.
The player made history by emerging as the first Italian to win a Grand Slam singles title, securing his initial triumph at Roland Garros in 1959 and successfully defending the prestigious trophy a year later.
With an impressive 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was long held to be the country's most accomplished player until the advent of current world number two and four-time major winner Jannik Sinner.
"The sport in Italy is in mourning for an titan. Nicola Pietrangeli, the only Italian inducted in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, has died," stated the national federation.
Beyond his pair of French Open successes, Pietrangeli also reached the final in Paris in the years 1961 and 1964.
He holds a remarkable 164 matches played for Italy in the prestigious team competition, securing victories in 120 of them, and spearheaded his country to its inaugural title in 1976.
Organisers of the Italian Open, an event where he was a double winner, said: "We are profoundly saddened that we say goodbye to Nicola Pietrangeli, a true legend of Italian tennis..."
