Azzurri Tennis Legend Nicola Pietrangeli Has Died at 92
The tennis champion stands as among a select trio of Italian men to win a major singles title.
Italian sport is mourning a authentic icon: Nicola Pietrangeli, a two-time French Open champion, left us at 92.
Pietrangeli etched his name by becoming the initial Italian to capture a Grand Slam singles title, achieving his initial triumph at Roland Garros in 1959 and successfully defending the coveted trophy in 1960.
With an impressive 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was long held to be the country's most accomplished player until the advent of current world number two and four-times major winner Jannik Sinner.
"Italian tennis is mourning an icon. Nicola Pietrangeli, the sole Italian enrolled in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, has died," stated the national federation.
Beyond his two French Open triumphs, Pietrangeli also finished as runner-up 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 led his country to its inaugural title in 1976.
Organisers of the Italian Open, where he was a two-time winner, said: "It is with deep sadness that we say goodbye to Nicola Pietrangeli, a true legend of Italian tennis..."
