Italian Court Icon Nicola Pietrangeli Dies 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 says goodbye to a true icon: Nicola Pietrangeli, a two-time French Open champion, has died at ninety-two.
The player made history by emerging as the initial Italian to secure a Grand Slam singles title, securing his maiden triumph at the French Open in 1959 and successfully defending the coveted trophy the following year.
With a remarkable 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was widely considered the country's finest player until the rise of current world number two and four-time major winner Jannik Sinner.
"The sport in Italy is in mourning for an legend. Nicola Pietrangeli, the sole Italian inducted in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, has died," announced the Italian Tennis Federation.
Beyond his two French Open triumphs, Pietrangeli also finished as runner-up in Paris in both 1961 and 1964.
He boasts a remarkable 164 matches played for Italy in the Davis Cup, winning 120 of them, and guided his country to its inaugural title in 1976.
Officials of the Italian Open, where he was a double winner, said: "It is with deep sadness that we say goodbye to Nicola Pietrangeli, a true legend of Italian tennis..."
