Italy's Tennis Icon Nicola Pietrangeli Passes Away at Ninety-Two
The tennis champion is among a select trio of Italian men to win a Grand Slam singles title.
Italian sport mourns a authentic legend: Nicola Pietrangeli, a two-time French Open champion, passed away at 92.
He carved his legacy by emerging as the initial Italian to win a Grand Slam singles title, achieving his maiden triumph at Roland Garros in 1959 and successfully defending the coveted trophy in 1960.
With a staggering 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was long held to be the nation's most accomplished player prior to the emergence of current star and four-time major winner Jannik Sinner.
"The sport in Italy is in mourning for an icon. Nicola Pietrangeli, the only Italian enrolled in the World Tennis Hall of Fame, has passed away," confirmed the Italian Tennis Federation.
Alongside his pair of French Open triumphs, Pietrangeli also finished as runner-up 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 double winner, stated: "We are profoundly saddened that we say goodbye to Nicola Pietrangeli, a veritable legend of Italian tennis..."
