Italian Tennis Icon Nicola Pietrangeli Has Died at the Age of 92
The tennis champion is one of only three Italian men to win a major singles title.
Italian sport says goodbye to a true legend: Nicola Pietrangeli, a two-time French Open champion, has died at 92.
The player made history by emerging as the initial Italian to win 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 widely considered 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 died," stated the national federation.
In addition to his two 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 Davis Cup, securing victories in 120 of them, and guided his country to its inaugural title in 1976.
Officials 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..."
