Italian Tennis Icon Nicola Pietrangeli Dies at 92
The tennis champion remains one of only three Italian men to secure a Grand Slam singles title.
Italian sport says goodbye to a authentic pioneer: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double French Open champion, has died at ninety-two.
The player made history 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 coveted trophy a year later.
With a staggering 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was long held to be the country's finest player until the advent of current star and four-times major winner Jannik Sinner.
"Italian tennis is mourning an titan. Nicola Pietrangeli, the only Italian enrolled in the World Tennis Hall of Fame, has died," announced 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 boasts a record 164 matches played for Italy in the Davis Cup, securing victories in 120 of them, and led his country to its maiden title in 1976.
Officials of the Italian Open, an event where he was a double winner, commented: "It is with deep sadness that we bid farewell to Nicola Pietrangeli, a veritable legend of Italian tennis..."
