Azzurri Tennis Legend Nicola Pietrangeli Has Died at the Age of 92
The tennis champion is among a select trio of Italian men to secure a major singles title.
Italian sport mourns a genuine pioneer: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double French Open champion, left us at 92.
The player made history by emerging as the initial Italian to secure a Grand Slam singles title, achieving his initial triumph at Roland Garros in 1959 and successfully defending the coveted trophy in 1960.
With an impressive 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was long held to be the nation's most accomplished player prior to the rise of current star and four-times major winner Jannik Sinner.
"Italian tennis is grieving an legend. Nicola Pietrangeli, the only Italian enrolled in the World Tennis Hall of Fame, has passed away," announced the Italian Tennis Federation.
In addition to his pair of French Open triumphs, Pietrangeli also reached the final in Paris in the years 1961 and 1964.
He set a record 164 matches played for Italy in the prestigious team competition, winning 120 of them, and led his country to its first title in 1976.
Organisers of the Italian Open, an event where he was a double winner, commented: "It is with deep sadness that we bid farewell to Nicola Pietrangeli, a veritable legend of Italian tennis..."
