Italian Tennis Icon Nicola Pietrangeli Dies at Ninety-Two
The tennis champion stands as one of only three Italian men to win a Grand Slam singles title.
Italian sport says goodbye to a true legend: Nicola Pietrangeli, a two-time French Open champion, has died at 92.
Pietrangeli etched his name by emerging as the first Italian to win a Grand Slam singles title, securing his initial triumph at Roland Garros in 1959 and successfully defending the coveted trophy a year later.
With an impressive 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was long held to be the nation's greatest ever player until the rise of current world number two and four-times major winner Jannik Sinner.
"The sport in Italy is mourning an legend. Nicola Pietrangeli, the only Italian inducted in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, has died," announced the Italian Tennis Federation.
Beyond his two French Open triumphs, Pietrangeli also reached the final in Paris in both 1961 and 1964.
He holds a record 164 matches played for Italy in the Davis Cup, winning 120 of them, and led his country to its first title in 1976.
Officials of the Italian Open, an event where he was a two-time winner, said: "It is with deep sadness that we bid farewell to Nicola Pietrangeli, a veritable legend of Italian tennis..."
