Azzurri Court Legend Nicola Pietrangeli Dies at the Age of 92
The tennis champion remains among a select trio of Italian men to claim a major singles title.
Italian sport says goodbye to a authentic icon: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double French Open champion, left us at 92.
Pietrangeli etched his name by becoming the pioneering Italian to win a Grand Slam singles title, securing his maiden triumph at the French Open in 1959 and retaining the coveted trophy in 1960.
With an impressive 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was long held to be the country's greatest ever player prior to the emergence of current star and four-time major winner Jannik Sinner.
"Italian tennis is mourning an icon. Nicola Pietrangeli, the sole Italian inducted in the World Tennis Hall of Fame, has passed away," stated the national federation.
Alongside his pair of French Open triumphs, Pietrangeli also was the finalist in Paris in both 1961 and 1964.
He set a remarkable 164 matches played for Italy in the Davis Cup, winning 120 of them, and guided his country to its first title in 1976.
Organisers of the Italian Open, an event where he was a double winner, commented: "We are profoundly saddened that we bid farewell to Nicola Pietrangeli, a veritable legend of Italian tennis..."
