Azzurri Court Great Nicola Pietrangeli Passes Away at the Age of 92
The tennis champion stands as among a select trio of Italian men to claim a major singles title.
The world of tennis says goodbye to a authentic pioneer: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double French Open champion, left us at ninety-two.
The player made history by emerging as the pioneering Italian to capture a Grand Slam singles title, earning his maiden triumph at Roland Garros in 1959 and retaining the prestigious trophy the following year.
With a staggering 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was universally regarded as the nation's greatest ever player prior to the rise of current world number two and four-time major winner Jannik Sinner.
"Italian tennis is in mourning for an icon. Nicola Pietrangeli, the sole Italian inducted in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, has died," stated the national federation.
Alongside his two French Open victories, Pietrangeli also reached the final in Paris in both 1961 and 1964.
He boasts a record 164 matches played for Italy in the prestigious team competition, winning 120 of them, and led his country to its inaugural title in 1976.
Organisers of the Italian Open, an event where he was a two-time winner, said: "We are profoundly saddened that we say goodbye to Nicola Pietrangeli, a true legend of Italian tennis..."
