Italian Court Icon Nicola Pietrangeli Passes Away at 92
The tennis champion remains among a select trio of Italian men to claim a major singles title.
Italian sport mourns a genuine legend: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double French Open champion, has died at 92.
The player made history by becoming the first Italian to win 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 remarkable 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was long held to be the nation's finest player prior to the rise of current world number two and four-times major winner Jannik Sinner.
"Italian tennis is in mourning for an titan. Nicola Pietrangeli, the sole Italian enrolled in the World Tennis Hall of Fame, has died," confirmed the national federation.
Beyond his two French Open triumphs, Pietrangeli also reached the final in Paris in both 1961 and 1964.
He set a remarkable 164 matches played for Italy in the Davis Cup, winning 120 of them, and spearheaded his country to its inaugural title in 1976.
Organisers of the Italian Open, an event where he was a double winner, said: "It is with deep sadness that we bid farewell to Nicola Pietrangeli, a true legend of Italian tennis..."
