Italy's Tennis Great Nicola Pietrangeli Has Died at 92
Nicola Pietrangeli stands as among a select trio of Italian men to secure a Grand Slam singles title.
Italian sport says goodbye to a true icon: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double French Open champion, has died at ninety-two.
He carved his legacy by becoming the initial Italian to secure a Grand Slam singles title, earning his initial triumph at the French Open in 1959 and successfully defending the coveted trophy in 1960.
With a staggering 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was universally regarded as the country's greatest ever player until the emergence of current star and four-times major winner Jannik Sinner.
"Italian tennis is in mourning for an icon. Nicola Pietrangeli, the only Italian inducted in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, has died," announced the Italian Tennis Federation.
Alongside his pair of French Open victories, Pietrangeli also reached the final in Paris in both 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 inaugural title in 1976.
Organisers of the Italian Open, where he was a double winner, stated: "We are profoundly saddened that we bid farewell to Nicola Pietrangeli, a veritable legend of Italian tennis..."
