Italian Court Great Nicola Pietrangeli Passes Away at 92
The tennis champion remains among a select trio of Italian men to win a major singles title.
Italian sport mourns a genuine legend: Nicola Pietrangeli, a two-time French Open champion, has died at ninety-two.
The player made history by becoming the first Italian to win a Grand Slam singles title, achieving his first triumph at the French Open in 1959 and successfully defending the coveted trophy in 1960.
With an impressive 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was long held to be the country's finest player prior to the advent of current world number two and four-time major winner Jannik Sinner.
"Italian tennis is in mourning for an titan. Nicola Pietrangeli, the sole Italian inducted in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, has passed away," confirmed the Italian Tennis Federation.
Alongside his pair of French Open successes, Pietrangeli also was the finalist in Paris in the years 1961 and 1964.
He set a record 164 matches played for Italy in the prestigious team competition, winning 120 of them, and led his country to its inaugural title in 1976.
Organisers of the Italian Open, where he was a two-time winner, commented: "We are profoundly saddened that we bid farewell to Nicola Pietrangeli, a veritable legend of Italian tennis..."
