Azzurri Court Legend Nicola Pietrangeli Dies at 92
The tennis champion remains among a select trio of Italian men to claim a Grand Slam singles title.
The world of tennis mourns a genuine icon: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double French Open champion, left us at 92.
Pietrangeli etched his name by emerging as the initial Italian to win a Grand Slam singles title, earning his maiden triumph at the French Open in 1959 and successfully defending the coveted trophy a year later.
With a staggering 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was widely considered the nation's greatest ever player until the rise of current star and four-time major winner Jannik Sinner.
"Italian tennis is grieving an legend. Nicola Pietrangeli, the only Italian enrolled in the World Tennis Hall of Fame, has passed away," stated the national federation.
Beyond his pair of French Open victories, Pietrangeli also was the finalist in Paris in the years 1961 and 1964.
He boasts a record 164 matches played for Italy in the Davis Cup, winning 120 of them, and guided his country to its first title in 1976.
Officials of the Italian Open, an event where he was a two-time winner, stated: "We are profoundly saddened that we bid farewell to Nicola Pietrangeli, a true legend of Italian tennis..."