Azzurri Tennis Great Nicola Pietrangeli Passes Away at 92
The tennis champion remains one of only three Italian men to claim a Grand Slam singles title.
Italian sport mourns a authentic legend: Nicola Pietrangeli, a two-time French Open champion, passed away at the age of 92.
Pietrangeli etched his name by becoming the initial Italian to secure a Grand Slam singles title, achieving his first triumph at the French Open in 1959 and retaining the prestigious trophy the following year.
With a staggering 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was long held to be the nation's greatest ever player prior to the emergence of current star and four-time major winner Jannik Sinner.
"The sport in Italy is grieving an legend. Nicola Pietrangeli, the only Italian enrolled in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, has passed away," confirmed the national federation.
Alongside his pair of French Open successes, Pietrangeli also reached the final in Paris in the years 1961 and 1964.
He set a remarkable 164 matches played for Italy in the prestigious team competition, winning 120 of them, and guided his country to its maiden title in 1976.
Officials of the Italian Open, where he was a two-time winner, said: "We are profoundly saddened that we say goodbye to Nicola Pietrangeli, a veritable legend of Italian tennis..."
