Italian Court Legend Nicola Pietrangeli Passes Away at Ninety-Two
The tennis champion is one of only three Italian men to win a major singles title.
Italian sport is mourning a true pioneer: Nicola Pietrangeli, a two-time French Open champion, left us at 92.
Pietrangeli etched his name by becoming the first Italian to secure a Grand Slam singles title, achieving his maiden triumph at the French Open in 1959 and successfully defending the prestigious trophy in 1960.
With an impressive 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was long held to be the nation's most accomplished player prior to the advent of current world number two and four-time major winner Jannik Sinner.
"The sport in Italy is grieving an legend. Nicola Pietrangeli, the only Italian enrolled in the World Tennis Hall of Fame, has passed away," announced the Italian Tennis Federation.
Alongside his pair of French Open triumphs, Pietrangeli also was the finalist in Paris in both 1961 and 1964.
He boasts a remarkable 164 matches played for Italy in the prestigious team competition, winning 120 of them, and spearheaded his country to its first title in 1976.
Organisers of the Italian Open, an event where he was a double winner, said: "We are profoundly saddened that we bid farewell to Nicola Pietrangeli, a veritable legend of Italian tennis..."
