Italy's Court Icon Nicola Pietrangeli Dies at Ninety-Two
The tennis champion is among a select trio of Italian men to win a Grand Slam singles title.
Italian sport mourns a true legend: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double French Open champion, left us at ninety-two.
He carved his legacy by emerging as the initial Italian to secure a Grand Slam singles title, securing his first triumph at the French Open in 1959 and retaining the prestigious trophy a year later.
With a remarkable 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was long held to be the nation's most accomplished player prior to the advent of current star and four-times major winner Jannik Sinner.
"The sport in Italy is grieving an icon. Nicola Pietrangeli, the sole Italian enrolled in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, has died," stated the national federation.
Beyond his two French Open triumphs, Pietrangeli also reached the final in Paris in both 1961 and 1964.
He holds a record 164 matches played for Italy in the prestigious team competition, winning 120 of them, and guided 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 say goodbye to Nicola Pietrangeli, a veritable legend of Italian tennis..."
