Azzurri Court Great Nicola Pietrangeli Has Died at 92
The tennis champion remains among a select trio of Italian men to secure a major singles title.
Italian sport mourns a authentic pioneer: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double French Open champion, has died at 92.
The player made history by emerging as the pioneering Italian to win a Grand Slam singles title, achieving his maiden triumph at the French Open in 1959 and retaining the prestigious trophy in 1960.
With a remarkable 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was long held to be the nation's greatest ever player until the emergence of current world number two and four-time major winner Jannik Sinner.
"Italian tennis is mourning an legend. Nicola Pietrangeli, the only Italian inducted in the World Tennis Hall of Fame, has died," stated the Italian Tennis Federation.
In addition to his pair of French Open victories, Pietrangeli also was the finalist in Paris in the years 1961 and 1964.
He holds a remarkable 164 matches played for Italy in the Davis Cup, winning 120 of them, and led his country to its inaugural title in 1976.
Organisers 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..."
