Azzurri Tennis Great Nicola Pietrangeli Has Died at 92
The tennis champion remains one of only three Italian men to win a Grand Slam singles title.
Italian sport says goodbye to a authentic pioneer: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double French Open champion, passed away 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 Roland Garros in 1959 and successfully defending the coveted trophy the following year.
With a staggering 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was widely considered the country's most accomplished player until the rise of current world number two and four-times major winner Jannik Sinner.
"Italian tennis is mourning an legend. Nicola Pietrangeli, the sole Italian inducted in the World Tennis Hall of Fame, has died," confirmed the Italian Tennis Federation.
Beyond his pair of French Open victories, Pietrangeli also reached the final in Paris in both 1961 and 1964.
He boasts a remarkable 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.
Organisers of the Italian Open, where he was a double winner, said: "We are profoundly saddened that we bid farewell to Nicola Pietrangeli, a veritable legend of Italian tennis..."
