Azzurri Tennis Icon Nicola Pietrangeli Has Died at 92
The tennis champion remains among a select trio of Italian men to claim a major singles title.
Italian sport mourns a genuine icon: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double French Open champion, left us at the age of 92.
The player made history by becoming the first Italian to capture a Grand Slam singles title, achieving his maiden triumph at the French Open in 1959 and retaining the coveted trophy a year later.
With an impressive 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was widely considered the nation's finest player prior to the rise of current star and four-time major winner Jannik Sinner.
"The sport in Italy is mourning an icon. Nicola Pietrangeli, the only Italian inducted in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, has passed away," stated the Italian Tennis Federation.
Alongside his two French Open triumphs, Pietrangeli also finished as runner-up in Paris in both 1961 and 1964.
He boasts a record 164 matches played for Italy in the Davis Cup, securing victories in 120 of them, and spearheaded his country to its inaugural title in 1976.
Organisers of the Italian Open, an event where he was a double winner, commented: "It is with deep sadness that we bid farewell to Nicola Pietrangeli, a true legend of Italian tennis..."
