Italy's Tennis Icon Nicola Pietrangeli Has Died at the Age of 92
The tennis champion remains one of only three Italian men to secure a major singles title.
Italian sport says goodbye to a genuine pioneer: Nicola Pietrangeli, a two-time French Open champion, left us at ninety-two.
The player made history by becoming the pioneering Italian to win a Grand Slam singles title, earning his first triumph at the French Open in 1959 and successfully defending the prestigious trophy in 1960.
With a staggering 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was universally regarded as the country's greatest ever player prior to the advent of current world number two and four-times major winner Jannik Sinner.
"The sport in Italy is in mourning for an icon. Nicola Pietrangeli, the sole Italian honored 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 holds a record 164 matches played for Italy in the prestigious team competition, securing victories in 120 of them, and led his country to its first title in 1976.
Organisers of the Italian Open, where he was a two-time winner, stated: "We are profoundly saddened that we say goodbye to Nicola Pietrangeli, a true legend of Italian tennis..."
