Italian Tennis Legend Nicola Pietrangeli Passes Away at 92
The tennis champion is among a select trio of Italian men to claim a major singles title.
Italian sport says goodbye to a authentic icon: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double French Open champion, left us at ninety-two.
The player made history by emerging as the first Italian to secure a Grand Slam singles title, achieving his initial triumph at Roland Garros in 1959 and retaining the prestigious trophy a year later.
With an impressive 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was long held to be the country's greatest ever player prior to the advent of current star and four-time major winner Jannik Sinner.
"Italian tennis is grieving an legend. Nicola Pietrangeli, the sole Italian enrolled in the World Tennis Hall of Fame, has passed away," stated the Italian Tennis Federation.
Beyond his two French Open triumphs, Pietrangeli also reached the final in Paris in both 1961 and 1964.
He holds a remarkable 164 matches played for Italy in the Davis Cup, securing victories in 120 of them, and guided his country to its first title in 1976.
Organisers of the Italian Open, where he was a two-time winner, commented: "It is with deep sadness that we bid farewell to Nicola Pietrangeli, a veritable legend of Italian tennis..."