Italian Tennis Legend Nicola Pietrangeli Passes Away at Ninety-Two
Nicola Pietrangeli stands as among a select trio of Italian men to win a major singles title.
Italian sport is mourning a genuine icon: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double French Open champion, passed away at the age of 92.
The player made history by becoming the pioneering Italian to secure a Grand Slam singles title, securing his first triumph at the French Open in 1959 and retaining the prestigious trophy in 1960.
With a staggering 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was long held to be the nation's greatest ever player until the rise of current world number two and four-times major winner Jannik Sinner.
"The sport in Italy is mourning an icon. Nicola Pietrangeli, the sole Italian enrolled in the World Tennis Hall of Fame, has died," confirmed the Italian Tennis Federation.
Alongside his pair of French Open successes, Pietrangeli also finished as runner-up in Paris in both 1961 and 1964.
He boasts a record 164 matches played for Italy in the prestigious team competition, securing victories in 120 of them, and spearheaded his country to its maiden title in 1976.
Officials of the Italian Open, an event where he was a double winner, stated: "We are profoundly saddened that we say goodbye to Nicola Pietrangeli, a veritable legend of Italian tennis..."
