Italy's Court Legend Nicola Pietrangeli Dies at the Age of 92
The tennis champion is among a select trio of Italian men to secure a major singles title.
Italian sport mourns a genuine pioneer: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double French Open champion, has died at ninety-two.
Pietrangeli etched his name by becoming the first Italian to secure a Grand Slam singles title, achieving his maiden triumph at the French Open in 1959 and retaining the coveted trophy a year later.
With an impressive 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was long held to be the country's most accomplished player until the rise of current star and four-times major winner Jannik Sinner.
"Italian tennis is mourning an titan. Nicola Pietrangeli, the only Italian enrolled in the World Tennis Hall of Fame, has died," stated the national federation.
Alongside his pair of French Open successes, Pietrangeli also was the finalist in Paris in the years 1961 and 1964.
He boasts a record 164 matches played for Italy in the Davis Cup, winning 120 of them, and spearheaded his country to its maiden title in 1976.
Organisers of the Italian Open, where he was a two-time winner, stated: "We are profoundly saddened that we say goodbye to Nicola Pietrangeli, a true legend of Italian tennis..."
