Azzurri Tennis Legend Nicola Pietrangeli Dies at the Age of 92
The tennis champion remains among a select trio of Italian men to claim a Grand Slam singles title.
Italian sport says goodbye to a authentic legend: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double French Open champion, passed away at the age of 92.
The player made history by emerging as the pioneering Italian to capture a Grand Slam singles title, achieving his maiden triumph at Roland Garros in 1959 and retaining the coveted trophy the following year.
With a staggering 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was universally regarded as the nation's greatest ever player prior to the advent of current star and four-times major winner Jannik Sinner.
"Italian tennis is mourning an titan. Nicola Pietrangeli, the sole Italian enrolled in the World Tennis Hall of Fame, has died," stated the national federation.
Beyond his pair of French Open successes, Pietrangeli also finished as runner-up in Paris in the years 1961 and 1964.
He set a remarkable 164 matches played for Italy in the prestigious team competition, securing victories in 120 of them, and led his country to its maiden title in 1976.
Organisers of the Italian Open, an event where he was a two-time winner, said: "We are profoundly saddened that we say goodbye to Nicola Pietrangeli, a veritable legend of Italian tennis..."
