Azzurri Tennis Icon Nicola Pietrangeli Passes Away at Ninety-Two
The tennis champion is among a select trio of Italian men to claim a major singles title.
Italian sport says goodbye to a genuine icon: Nicola Pietrangeli, a two-time French Open champion, passed away at 92.
He carved his legacy by emerging as the pioneering Italian to secure a Grand Slam singles title, achieving his initial triumph at the French Open in 1959 and retaining the prestigious trophy in 1960.
With an impressive 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was widely considered the country's finest player prior to the rise of current world number two and four-time major winner Jannik Sinner.
"Italian tennis is mourning an icon. Nicola Pietrangeli, the only Italian honored in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, has died," confirmed the Italian Tennis Federation.
In addition to his pair of French Open triumphs, Pietrangeli also finished as runner-up in Paris in both 1961 and 1964.
He boasts a record 164 matches played for Italy in the prestigious team competition, winning 120 of them, and guided his country to its first title in 1976.
Organisers of the Italian Open, an event where he was a double winner, said: "It is with deep sadness that we say goodbye to Nicola Pietrangeli, a true legend of Italian tennis..."
