Azzurri Tennis Legend Nicola Pietrangeli Passes Away at Ninety-Two
The tennis champion remains among a select trio of Italian men to secure a Grand Slam singles title.
Italian sport mourns a genuine pioneer: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double French Open champion, left us at the age of 92.
Pietrangeli etched his name by emerging as the initial Italian to secure a Grand Slam singles title, achieving his first triumph at Roland Garros in 1959 and retaining the coveted trophy a year later.
With an impressive 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was long held to be the country's most accomplished player prior to the advent of current world number two and four-times major winner Jannik Sinner.
"Italian tennis is grieving an titan. Nicola Pietrangeli, the only Italian inducted in the World Tennis Hall of Fame, has died," confirmed the Italian Tennis Federation.
Alongside his pair of French Open victories, Pietrangeli also was the finalist in Paris in the years 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 first title in 1976.
Organisers of the Italian Open, an event where he was a double winner, commented: "We are profoundly saddened that we bid farewell to Nicola Pietrangeli, a true legend of Italian tennis..."
