Italian Tennis Icon Nicola Pietrangeli Has Died at Ninety-Two
The tennis champion stands as one of only three Italian men to secure a major singles title.
Italian sport is mourning a true icon: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double French Open champion, passed away at 92.
He carved his legacy by becoming the first Italian to secure a Grand Slam singles title, earning his maiden triumph at Roland Garros in 1959 and retaining the coveted trophy in 1960.
With a staggering 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was widely considered the nation's finest player until the rise of current world number two and four-times major winner Jannik Sinner.
"Italian tennis is mourning an titan. Nicola Pietrangeli, the only Italian inducted in the World Tennis Hall of Fame, has passed away," announced the national federation.
Alongside his pair of French Open victories, Pietrangeli also finished as runner-up in Paris in both 1961 and 1964.
He set a record 164 matches played for Italy in the Davis Cup, winning 120 of them, and led his country to its first title in 1976.
Officials of the Italian Open, an event where he was a two-time winner, said: "It is with deep sadness that we bid farewell to Nicola Pietrangeli, a true legend of Italian tennis..."
