Azzurri Court Icon Nicola Pietrangeli Dies at 92
The tennis champion remains one of only three Italian men to secure a major singles title.
Italian sport is mourning a genuine legend: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double French Open champion, has died at 92.
The player made history by becoming the pioneering Italian to secure a Grand Slam singles title, achieving his maiden triumph at the French Open in 1959 and successfully defending the coveted trophy in 1960.
With an impressive 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was widely considered the nation's most accomplished player until the rise of current world number two and four-times major winner Jannik Sinner.
"The sport in Italy is in mourning for an titan. Nicola Pietrangeli, the sole Italian enrolled in the World Tennis Hall of Fame, has passed away," announced the national federation.
In addition to his two French Open victories, Pietrangeli also was the finalist in Paris in the years 1961 and 1964.
He boasts a remarkable 164 matches played for Italy in the Davis Cup, winning 120 of them, and guided his country to its inaugural title in 1976.
Organisers of the Italian Open, where he was a two-time winner, said: "We are profoundly saddened that we say goodbye to Nicola Pietrangeli, a veritable legend of Italian tennis..."
