Italian Tennis Icon Nicola Pietrangeli Passes Away at the Age of 92
The tennis champion stands as one of only three Italian men to secure a major singles title.
Italian sport is mourning a true icon: Nicola Pietrangeli, a two-time French Open champion, has died at ninety-two.
He carved his legacy by becoming the pioneering Italian to win a Grand Slam singles title, achieving his maiden triumph at the French Open in 1959 and successfully defending the coveted trophy in 1960.
With a remarkable 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was long held to be the nation's greatest ever player prior to the advent of current star and four-time major winner Jannik Sinner.
"The sport in Italy is mourning an icon. Nicola Pietrangeli, the only Italian inducted in the World Tennis Hall of Fame, has passed away," confirmed the Italian Tennis Federation.
Alongside his pair of French Open triumphs, Pietrangeli also finished as runner-up in Paris in the years 1961 and 1964.
He holds a remarkable 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: "We are profoundly saddened that we say goodbye to Nicola Pietrangeli, a veritable legend of Italian tennis..."
