Italian Tennis Legend Nicola Pietrangeli Passes Away at Ninety-Two
The tennis champion stands as among a select trio of Italian men to win a Grand Slam singles title.
Italian sport says goodbye to a true pioneer: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double French Open champion, passed away at ninety-two.
He carved his legacy by emerging as the initial Italian to secure a Grand Slam singles title, achieving his first triumph at Roland Garros 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 most accomplished player prior to the advent of current star and four-time major winner Jannik Sinner.
"The sport in Italy is in mourning for an icon. Nicola Pietrangeli, the only Italian enrolled in the World Tennis Hall of Fame, has died," confirmed the national federation.
In addition to his pair of French Open successes, Pietrangeli also finished as runner-up in Paris in both 1961 and 1964.
He holds a record 164 matches played for Italy in the Davis Cup, securing victories in 120 of them, and guided his country to its inaugural title in 1976.
Organisers of the Italian Open, an event 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..."
