Italy's Tennis Great Nicola Pietrangeli Has Died at the Age of 92
The tennis champion is among a select trio of Italian men to secure a Grand Slam singles title.
Italian sport is mourning a genuine pioneer: Nicola Pietrangeli, a two-time French Open champion, left us at the age of 92.
Pietrangeli etched his name by emerging as the pioneering Italian to capture a Grand Slam singles title, achieving his maiden triumph at Roland Garros in 1959 and retaining the coveted trophy the following year.
With an impressive 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was long held to be the nation's greatest ever player until the advent of current star and four-time major winner Jannik Sinner.
"The sport in Italy is mourning an titan. Nicola Pietrangeli, the sole Italian enrolled in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, has died," announced the national federation.
Alongside his two French Open successes, Pietrangeli also reached the final in Paris in both 1961 and 1964.
He boasts a record 164 matches played for Italy in the Davis Cup, winning 120 of them, and guided his country to its inaugural title in 1976.
Officials 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 true legend of Italian tennis..."
