Italian Court Great Nicola Pietrangeli Passes Away at Ninety-Two
The tennis champion remains one of only three Italian men to win a major singles title.
Italian sport is mourning a true pioneer: Nicola Pietrangeli, a two-time French Open champion, left us at 92.
Pietrangeli etched his name by emerging as the pioneering Italian to secure a Grand Slam singles title, earning his first triumph at Roland Garros in 1959 and retaining the coveted trophy a year later.
With a remarkable 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was widely considered the nation's finest player prior to the emergence of current world number two and four-times major winner Jannik Sinner.
"Italian tennis is in mourning for an legend. Nicola Pietrangeli, the only Italian enrolled in the World Tennis Hall of Fame, has died," announced the national federation.
In addition to his pair of French Open successes, Pietrangeli also reached the final in Paris in both 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 inaugural title in 1976.
Organisers of the Italian Open, where he was a two-time winner, stated: "It is with deep sadness that we say goodbye to Nicola Pietrangeli, a veritable legend of Italian tennis..."
