Italian Tennis Icon Nicola Pietrangeli Passes Away at Ninety-Two
The tennis champion remains among a select trio of Italian men to win a major singles title.
Italian sport says goodbye to a authentic legend: Nicola Pietrangeli, a two-time French Open champion, left us at the age of 92.
Pietrangeli etched his name by emerging as the first Italian to win a Grand Slam singles title, earning his maiden triumph at Roland Garros in 1959 and retaining the prestigious trophy in 1960.
With an impressive 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was long held to be the nation's finest player until the emergence of current world number two and four-time major winner Jannik Sinner.
"The sport in Italy is in mourning for an legend. Nicola Pietrangeli, the only Italian enrolled in the World Tennis Hall of Fame, has passed away," confirmed the Italian Tennis Federation.
In addition to his two French Open triumphs, Pietrangeli also was the finalist in Paris in both 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 inaugural 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 veritable legend of Italian tennis..."
