Italy's Tennis Great Nicola Pietrangeli Has Died at Ninety-Two
Nicola Pietrangeli 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 92.
Pietrangeli etched his name by emerging as the first Italian to secure a Grand Slam singles title, earning his initial triumph at Roland Garros in 1959 and successfully defending the prestigious trophy a year later.
With a staggering 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was long held to be the nation's greatest ever player prior to the advent of current world number two and four-time major winner Jannik Sinner.
"Italian tennis is grieving an titan. Nicola Pietrangeli, the sole Italian honored in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, has passed away," stated the Italian Tennis Federation.
Alongside his pair of French Open victories, Pietrangeli also finished as runner-up in Paris in both 1961 and 1964.
He holds 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, an event where he was a two-time winner, said: "It is with deep sadness that we bid farewell to Nicola Pietrangeli, a true legend of Italian tennis..."
