Azzurri Tennis Icon Nicola Pietrangeli Has Died at 92
The tennis champion stands as among a select trio of Italian men to claim a major singles title.
Italian sport is mourning a genuine pioneer: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double French Open champion, left us at 92.
He carved his legacy by emerging as the initial Italian to capture a Grand Slam singles title, achieving his maiden triumph at Roland Garros in 1959 and retaining the coveted trophy a year later.
With a staggering 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was universally regarded as the nation's most accomplished player prior to the emergence of current world number two and four-times major winner Jannik Sinner.
"The sport in Italy is mourning an titan. Nicola Pietrangeli, the sole Italian honored in the World Tennis Hall of Fame, has passed away," stated the Italian Tennis Federation.
In addition to his two French Open successes, Pietrangeli also finished as runner-up in Paris in the years 1961 and 1964.
He boasts a record 164 matches played for Italy in the Davis Cup, securing victories in 120 of them, and led his country to its first title in 1976.
Organisers of the Italian Open, where he was a two-time winner, said: "We are profoundly saddened that we say goodbye to Nicola Pietrangeli, a veritable legend of Italian tennis..."
