Italian Court Legend Nicola Pietrangeli Dies at the Age of 92
The tennis champion stands as among a select trio of Italian men to win a major singles title.
Italian sport is mourning a genuine icon: Nicola Pietrangeli, a two-time French Open champion, left us at 92.
Pietrangeli etched his name by becoming the pioneering Italian to capture a Grand Slam singles title, earning his maiden triumph at the French Open in 1959 and retaining the coveted trophy the following year.
With a staggering 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was widely considered the country's most accomplished player prior to the rise of current world number two and four-times major winner Jannik Sinner.
"Italian tennis is mourning an titan. Nicola Pietrangeli, the only Italian inducted in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, has died," announced the Italian Tennis Federation.
Alongside his two French Open successes, Pietrangeli also finished as runner-up in Paris in both 1961 and 1964.
He set a remarkable 164 matches played for Italy in the prestigious team competition, winning 120 of them, and led his country to its inaugural title in 1976.
Organisers of the Italian Open, where he was a two-time winner, said: "We are profoundly saddened that we bid farewell to Nicola Pietrangeli, a true legend of Italian tennis..."
