Italy's Court Great Nicola Pietrangeli Has Died at the Age of 92
The tennis champion is among a select trio of Italian men to claim a major singles title.
Italian sport says goodbye to a authentic icon: Nicola Pietrangeli, a two-time French Open champion, passed away at the age of 92.
Pietrangeli etched his name by emerging as the first Italian to win a Grand Slam singles title, securing his maiden triumph at the French Open in 1959 and retaining the prestigious trophy a year later.
With an impressive 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-time major winner Jannik Sinner.
"Italian tennis is mourning an titan. Nicola Pietrangeli, the only Italian enrolled in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, has died," stated the national federation.
Alongside his two French Open successes, Pietrangeli also was the finalist in Paris in the years 1961 and 1964.
He boasts a remarkable 164 matches played for Italy in the Davis Cup, winning 120 of them, and led his country to its inaugural title in 1976.
Organisers of the Italian Open, an event where he was a two-time winner, said: "We are profoundly saddened that we bid farewell to Nicola Pietrangeli, a veritable legend of Italian tennis..."
