Italy's Tennis Icon Nicola Pietrangeli Passes Away at 92
The tennis champion stands as one of only three Italian men to win a Grand Slam singles title.
Italian sport is mourning a genuine legend: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double 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 first triumph at Roland Garros in 1959 and successfully defending the coveted trophy in 1960.
With a staggering 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was long held to be the country's finest player prior to the emergence of current star and four-times major winner Jannik Sinner.
"The sport in Italy is mourning an icon. Nicola Pietrangeli, the only Italian enrolled in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, has died," stated the national federation.
Beyond his pair of French Open victories, Pietrangeli also finished as runner-up in Paris in both 1961 and 1964.
He boasts a remarkable 164 matches played for Italy in the prestigious team competition, winning 120 of them, and guided his country to its inaugural title in 1976.
Organisers of the Italian Open, where he was a two-time winner, commented: "We are profoundly saddened that we bid farewell to Nicola Pietrangeli, a true legend of Italian tennis..."
