Azzurri Court Legend Nicola Pietrangeli Dies at 92
The tennis champion remains one of only three Italian men to win a Grand Slam singles title.
Italian sport says goodbye to a genuine pioneer: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double French Open champion, passed away at ninety-two.
Pietrangeli etched his name by emerging as the first Italian to win a Grand Slam singles title, achieving his first triumph at the French Open in 1959 and retaining the prestigious trophy the following year.
With a remarkable 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was long held to be the nation's most accomplished player prior to the rise of current star and four-time major winner Jannik Sinner.
"Italian tennis is in mourning for an legend. Nicola Pietrangeli, the only Italian honored in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, has passed away," announced the Italian Tennis Federation.
Alongside his two French Open triumphs, Pietrangeli also finished as runner-up 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 guided his country to its first title in 1976.
Organisers of the Italian Open, where he was a double winner, commented: "We are profoundly saddened that we say goodbye to Nicola Pietrangeli, a veritable legend of Italian tennis..."
