Italian Tennis Legend Nicola Pietrangeli Dies at the Age of 92
The tennis champion stands as among a select trio of Italian men to win a major singles title.
Italian sport says goodbye to a genuine legend: Nicola Pietrangeli, a two-time French Open champion, has died at the age of 92.
He carved his legacy by emerging as the initial Italian to capture a Grand Slam singles title, achieving his initial triumph at Roland Garros in 1959 and retaining the prestigious trophy in 1960.
With a staggering 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was universally regarded as the country's greatest ever player prior to the advent 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 International Tennis Hall of Fame, has passed away," stated the Italian Tennis Federation.
In addition to his pair of French Open triumphs, Pietrangeli also was the finalist in Paris in the years 1961 and 1964.
He set 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 double winner, said: "We are profoundly saddened that we say goodbye to Nicola Pietrangeli, a veritable legend of Italian tennis..."
