Italian Court Legend Nicola Pietrangeli Dies at Ninety-Two
The tennis champion remains one of only three Italian men to secure a major singles title.
Italian sport is mourning a true pioneer: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double French Open champion, passed away at the age of 92.
Pietrangeli etched his name by becoming the pioneering Italian to secure a Grand Slam singles title, achieving his initial triumph at the French Open in 1959 and retaining the coveted trophy a year later.
With a staggering 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was universally regarded as the nation's most accomplished player prior to the rise of current star and four-times major winner Jannik Sinner.
"Italian tennis is in mourning for an legend. Nicola Pietrangeli, the sole Italian inducted in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, has passed away," stated the national federation.
Alongside his pair of French Open successes, Pietrangeli also finished as runner-up in Paris in the years 1961 and 1964.
He boasts a remarkable 164 matches played for Italy in the prestigious team competition, winning 120 of them, and spearheaded his country to its inaugural title in 1976.
Officials of the Italian Open, an event where he was a double winner, stated: "We are profoundly saddened that we say goodbye to Nicola Pietrangeli, a veritable legend of Italian tennis..."
