Italian Tennis Legend Nicola Pietrangeli Has Died at Ninety-Two
The tennis champion is one of only three Italian men to secure a major singles title.
Italian sport says goodbye to a genuine pioneer: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double French Open champion, left us at the age of 92.
The player made history by emerging as the first Italian to win a Grand Slam singles title, securing his first triumph at the French Open in 1959 and successfully defending the coveted trophy the following year.
With a remarkable 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was long held to be the nation's most accomplished player until 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 inducted in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, has passed away," announced the national federation.
Beyond his pair of French Open successes, Pietrangeli also was the finalist in Paris in both 1961 and 1964.
He boasts a record 164 matches played for Italy in the prestigious team competition, winning 120 of them, and led his country to its inaugural title in 1976.
Officials of the Italian Open, where he was a two-time winner, said: "It is with deep sadness that we say goodbye to Nicola Pietrangeli, a veritable legend of Italian tennis..."
