Italy's Court Great Nicola Pietrangeli Passes Away at Ninety-Two
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 double French Open champion, left us at ninety-two.
Pietrangeli etched his name by emerging as the pioneering Italian to capture a Grand Slam singles title, earning his first triumph at the French Open in 1959 and successfully defending the coveted trophy in 1960.
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 World Tennis Hall of Fame, has passed away," confirmed the national federation.
In addition to his pair of French Open victories, Pietrangeli also reached the final in Paris in both 1961 and 1964.
He holds 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 two-time winner, stated: "We are profoundly saddened that we bid farewell to Nicola Pietrangeli, a veritable legend of Italian tennis..."
