Italy's Tennis Great Nicola Pietrangeli Passes Away at the Age of 92
The tennis champion remains among a select trio of Italian men to secure a major singles title.
Italian sport mourns a true legend: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double French Open champion, passed away at ninety-two.
Pietrangeli etched his name by emerging as the first Italian to capture a Grand Slam singles title, earning his maiden triumph at Roland Garros in 1959 and successfully defending the coveted trophy a year later.
With a staggering 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was universally regarded as the country's most accomplished player prior to the advent of current world number two and four-time major winner Jannik Sinner.
"Italian tennis is mourning an titan. Nicola Pietrangeli, the only Italian enrolled in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, has died," stated the Italian Tennis Federation.
Alongside his two French Open successes, Pietrangeli also finished as runner-up in Paris in both 1961 and 1964.
He holds a remarkable 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.
Officials of the Italian Open, 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..."
