Italian Tennis Great Nicola Pietrangeli Passes Away at the Age of 92
The tennis champion is one of only three Italian men to win a major singles title.
Italian sport is mourning a true icon: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double French Open champion, left us at ninety-two.
The player made history by becoming the pioneering Italian to capture a Grand Slam singles title, earning his initial triumph at the French Open in 1959 and successfully defending the coveted trophy in 1960.
With a staggering 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was widely considered the nation's most accomplished player until the advent of current world number two and four-time major winner Jannik Sinner.
"Italian tennis is mourning an legend. Nicola Pietrangeli, the only Italian honored in the World Tennis Hall of Fame, has died," confirmed the Italian Tennis Federation.
Alongside his pair of French Open triumphs, Pietrangeli also reached the final in Paris in both 1961 and 1964.
He set a record 164 matches played for Italy in the prestigious team competition, winning 120 of them, and led his country to its first title in 1976.
Officials of the Italian Open, an event where he was a two-time winner, commented: "We are profoundly saddened that we bid farewell to Nicola Pietrangeli, a true legend of Italian tennis..."
