Italian Court Icon Nicola Pietrangeli Dies at Ninety-Two
The tennis champion is one of only three Italian men to secure a Grand Slam singles title.
Italian sport is mourning a genuine pioneer: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double French Open champion, left us at ninety-two.
The player made history by becoming the pioneering Italian to secure a Grand Slam singles title, earning his maiden triumph at Roland Garros in 1959 and retaining the coveted trophy the following year.
With a remarkable 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was long held to be the country's greatest ever player prior to the emergence of current world number two and four-time major winner Jannik Sinner.
"Italian tennis is grieving an icon. Nicola Pietrangeli, the sole Italian honored in the World Tennis Hall of Fame, has passed away," announced the national federation.
Beyond his pair of French Open victories, Pietrangeli also reached the final in Paris in the years 1961 and 1964.
He set a record 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, where he was a double winner, said: "We are profoundly saddened that we bid farewell to Nicola Pietrangeli, a veritable legend of Italian tennis..."
