Italy's Tennis Icon Nicola Pietrangeli Dies at Ninety-Two
Nicola Pietrangeli is among a select trio of Italian men to secure a major singles title.
Italian sport says goodbye to a true icon: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double French Open champion, left us at the age of 92.
Pietrangeli etched his name by emerging as the initial Italian to capture a Grand Slam singles title, earning his first triumph at the French Open in 1959 and retaining the coveted trophy a year later.
With a staggering 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was long held to be the country's greatest ever player prior to the emergence of current star and four-time major winner Jannik Sinner.
"The sport in Italy is grieving an icon. Nicola Pietrangeli, the only Italian enrolled in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, has passed away," announced the national federation.
Alongside his two French Open triumphs, Pietrangeli also finished as runner-up 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 led his country to its inaugural title in 1976.
Organisers of the Italian Open, where he was a double winner, stated: "It is with deep sadness that we bid farewell to Nicola Pietrangeli, a veritable legend of Italian tennis..."
