Italian Tennis Icon Nicola Pietrangeli Has Died at the Age of 92
The tennis champion stands as one of only three Italian men to claim a major singles title.
Italian sport mourns a genuine icon: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double French Open champion, has died at ninety-two.
Pietrangeli etched his name by emerging as the first Italian to capture a Grand Slam singles title, earning his first triumph at Roland Garros in 1959 and retaining the prestigious trophy a year later.
With a staggering 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was long held to be the nation's greatest ever player prior to the rise of current world number two and four-times major winner Jannik Sinner.
"Italian tennis is in mourning for an legend. Nicola Pietrangeli, the sole Italian honored in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, has died," confirmed the national federation.
Alongside his two French Open triumphs, Pietrangeli also reached the final in Paris in both 1961 and 1964.
He set a remarkable 164 matches played for Italy in the Davis Cup, securing victories in 120 of them, and led his country to its inaugural title in 1976.
Organisers of the Italian Open, an event where he was a double winner, said: "It is with deep sadness that we bid farewell to Nicola Pietrangeli, a true legend of Italian tennis..."
