Azzurri Tennis Icon Nicola Pietrangeli Passes Away at the Age of 92
The tennis champion is one of only three Italian men to win a major singles title.
Italian sport mourns a genuine pioneer: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double French Open champion, passed away at the age of 92.
Pietrangeli etched his name by becoming the initial Italian to capture a Grand Slam singles title, achieving his first triumph at Roland Garros in 1959 and successfully defending the coveted trophy in 1960.
With a staggering 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was universally regarded as the nation's most accomplished player prior to the emergence of current world number two and four-time major winner Jannik Sinner.
"Italian tennis is in mourning for an legend. Nicola Pietrangeli, the only Italian enrolled in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, has died," announced the Italian Tennis Federation.
Alongside his two French Open victories, Pietrangeli also was the finalist in Paris in the years 1961 and 1964.
He boasts a record 164 matches played for Italy in the Davis Cup, winning 120 of them, and spearheaded his country to its inaugural title in 1976.
Officials of the Italian Open, where he was a double winner, said: "We are profoundly saddened that we say goodbye to Nicola Pietrangeli, a true legend of Italian tennis..."
