Italy's Tennis Icon Nicola Pietrangeli Dies at 92
The tennis champion remains among a select trio of Italian men to win a major singles title.
Italian sport mourns a authentic icon: Nicola Pietrangeli, a two-time French Open champion, left us at the age of 92.
He carved his legacy by emerging as the first Italian to capture a Grand Slam singles title, achieving his first triumph at Roland Garros in 1959 and successfully defending the coveted trophy a year later.
With a remarkable 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was long held to be the country's greatest ever player prior to the emergence of current star and four-times major winner Jannik Sinner.
"The sport in Italy is mourning an legend. Nicola Pietrangeli, the sole Italian honored in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, has passed away," announced the Italian Tennis Federation.
Alongside his two French Open triumphs, Pietrangeli also was the finalist in Paris in the years 1961 and 1964.
He boasts 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 double winner, stated: "We are profoundly saddened that we bid farewell to Nicola Pietrangeli, a true legend of Italian tennis..."
