Azzurri Court Icon Nicola Pietrangeli Passes Away at 92
The tennis champion is one of only three Italian men to secure a Grand Slam singles title.
Italian sport mourns a genuine legend: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double French Open champion, has died at 92.
The player made history by emerging as the pioneering Italian to capture a Grand Slam singles title, achieving his maiden triumph at the French Open in 1959 and successfully defending the prestigious trophy a year later.
With a staggering 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was long held to be the nation's most accomplished player until the advent of current world number two and four-times major winner Jannik Sinner.
"Italian tennis is grieving an icon. Nicola Pietrangeli, the sole Italian enrolled in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, has passed away," stated the Italian Tennis Federation.
Alongside his two French Open successes, Pietrangeli also reached the final 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 maiden title in 1976.
Organisers of the Italian Open, an event where he was a two-time winner, commented: "We are profoundly saddened that we say goodbye to Nicola Pietrangeli, a veritable legend of Italian tennis..."
