Italy's Tennis Legend Nicola Pietrangeli Dies at the Age of 92
The tennis champion remains one of only three Italian men to win a Grand Slam singles title.
Italian sport is mourning a true icon: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double French Open champion, passed away at the age of 92.
The player made history by emerging as the pioneering Italian to win a Grand Slam singles title, earning his maiden triumph at the French Open in 1959 and retaining the prestigious trophy in 1960.
With an impressive 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was universally regarded as the country's most accomplished player prior to the emergence of current world number two and four-times major winner Jannik Sinner.
"Italian tennis is grieving an titan. Nicola Pietrangeli, the only Italian inducted in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, has died," stated the national federation.
Alongside his two French Open victories, Pietrangeli also finished as runner-up in Paris in both 1961 and 1964.
He set a record 164 matches played for Italy in the Davis Cup, 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: "It is with deep sadness that we bid farewell to Nicola Pietrangeli, a veritable legend of Italian tennis..."
