Azzurri Tennis Icon 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 true legend: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double French Open champion, left us at ninety-two.
He carved his legacy by emerging as the initial Italian to capture a Grand Slam singles title, earning his maiden triumph at the French Open in 1959 and successfully defending the coveted trophy a year later.
With a staggering 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was universally regarded as the country's greatest ever player until the emergence of current world number two and four-time major winner Jannik Sinner.
"Italian tennis is mourning an titan. Nicola Pietrangeli, the only Italian honored in the World Tennis Hall of Fame, has died," stated the Italian Tennis Federation.
In addition to his two French Open victories, Pietrangeli also finished as runner-up in Paris in both 1961 and 1964.
He set a record 164 matches played for Italy in the prestigious team competition, winning 120 of them, and guided his country to its inaugural title in 1976.
Organisers of the Italian Open, where he was a two-time winner, stated: "We are profoundly saddened that we bid farewell to Nicola Pietrangeli, a true legend of Italian tennis..."
