Azzurri Tennis Legend Nicola Pietrangeli Passes Away at 92
The tennis champion remains among a select trio of Italian men to claim a major singles title.
Italian sport says goodbye to a genuine icon: Nicola Pietrangeli, a two-time French Open champion, left us at the age of 92.
The player made history by emerging as the pioneering Italian to secure a Grand Slam singles title, achieving his initial triumph at Roland Garros in 1959 and successfully defending the prestigious trophy in 1960.
With a staggering 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was long held to be the country's greatest ever player prior to the emergence of current world number two and four-time major winner Jannik Sinner.
"Italian tennis is in mourning for an titan. Nicola Pietrangeli, the sole Italian enrolled in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, has died," announced the Italian Tennis Federation.
Beyond his pair of French Open triumphs, Pietrangeli also was the finalist in Paris in the years 1961 and 1964.
He holds a record 164 matches played for Italy in the Davis Cup, winning 120 of them, and spearheaded his country to its maiden title in 1976.
Organisers of the Italian Open, an event where he was a double winner, commented: "It is with deep sadness that we bid farewell to Nicola Pietrangeli, a veritable legend of Italian tennis..."
