Azzurri Court Great Nicola Pietrangeli Has Died at Ninety-Two
The tennis champion remains one of only three Italian men to claim a Grand Slam singles title.
The world of tennis is mourning a authentic icon: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double French Open champion, passed away at the age of 92.
He carved his legacy by becoming the initial Italian to capture a Grand Slam singles title, achieving his first triumph at Roland Garros in 1959 and retaining the prestigious trophy in 1960.
With an impressive 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was universally regarded as the nation's finest player prior to the advent of current world number two and four-times major winner Jannik Sinner.
"Italian tennis is in mourning for an titan. Nicola Pietrangeli, the sole Italian enrolled in the World Tennis Hall of Fame, has died," announced the Italian Tennis Federation.
Alongside his pair of French Open successes, Pietrangeli also was the finalist in Paris in both 1961 and 1964.
He boasts a record 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 double winner, commented: "We are profoundly saddened that we say goodbye to Nicola Pietrangeli, a true legend of Italian tennis..."
