Italy's Court Icon Nicola Pietrangeli Passes Away at the Age of 92
The tennis champion is among a select trio of Italian men to win a Grand Slam singles title.
Italian sport mourns a authentic icon: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double French Open champion, has died at ninety-two.
He carved his legacy by emerging as the initial Italian to capture a Grand Slam singles title, achieving his first triumph at the French Open in 1959 and retaining the coveted trophy a year later.
With a staggering 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was universally regarded as the country's most accomplished player until the rise of current world number two and four-time major winner Jannik Sinner.
"The sport in Italy is grieving an titan. Nicola Pietrangeli, the sole Italian inducted in the World Tennis Hall of Fame, has passed away," stated the national federation.
Alongside his two French Open triumphs, Pietrangeli also was the finalist in Paris in the years 1961 and 1964.
He set a remarkable 164 matches played for Italy in the Davis Cup, securing victories in 120 of them, and spearheaded his country to its first title in 1976.
Organisers of the Italian Open, where he was a two-time winner, said: "We are profoundly saddened that we say goodbye to Nicola Pietrangeli, a veritable legend of Italian tennis..."
