Azzurri Court Great Nicola Pietrangeli Has Died at 92
The tennis champion is among a select trio of Italian men to claim a Grand Slam singles title.
Italian sport mourns a authentic pioneer: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double French Open champion, left us at ninety-two.
The player made history by becoming the initial Italian to secure a Grand Slam singles title, achieving his initial triumph at Roland Garros in 1959 and retaining 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 star and four-times major winner Jannik Sinner.
"The sport in Italy is in mourning for an legend. Nicola Pietrangeli, the only Italian enrolled in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, has passed away," confirmed the national federation.
In addition to his two French Open successes, Pietrangeli also finished as runner-up 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 led his country to its inaugural title in 1976.
Organisers of the Italian Open, where he was a two-time winner, stated: "We are profoundly saddened that we bid farewell to Nicola Pietrangeli, a true legend of Italian tennis..."
