Azzurri Court Great Nicola Pietrangeli Passes Away at 92
The tennis champion remains among a select trio of Italian men to win a Grand Slam singles title.
Italian sport says goodbye to a genuine pioneer: Nicola Pietrangeli, a two-time French Open champion, left us at the age of 92.
Pietrangeli etched his name by becoming the pioneering 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 a remarkable 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was long held to be the country's finest player until the rise of current world number two and four-time major winner Jannik Sinner.
"Italian tennis is in mourning for an titan. Nicola Pietrangeli, the only Italian honored in the World Tennis Hall of Fame, has died," announced the national federation.
Beyond his pair of French Open victories, Pietrangeli also was the finalist in Paris in the years 1961 and 1964.
He boasts a remarkable 164 matches played for Italy in the prestigious team competition, securing victories in 120 of them, and guided his country to its first title in 1976.
Organisers of the Italian Open, an event where he was a double winner, said: "It is with deep sadness that we bid farewell to Nicola Pietrangeli, a true legend of Italian tennis..."
