Italian Court Icon Nicola Pietrangeli Dies at Ninety-Two
Nicola Pietrangeli stands as among a select trio of Italian men to win a major singles title.
Italian sport mourns a genuine legend: Nicola Pietrangeli, a two-time French Open champion, has died 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 Roland Garros in 1959 and retaining the prestigious trophy in 1960.
With a staggering 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was long held to be the nation's most accomplished player until the advent of current star and four-times major winner Jannik Sinner.
"The sport in Italy is in mourning for an legend. Nicola Pietrangeli, the only Italian enrolled in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, has died," announced the Italian Tennis Federation.
Alongside his pair of French Open triumphs, Pietrangeli also was the finalist in Paris in both 1961 and 1964.
He holds a remarkable 164 matches played for Italy in the prestigious team competition, winning 120 of them, and spearheaded his country to its inaugural title in 1976.
Organisers 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 true legend of Italian tennis..."
