Azzurri Court Icon Nicola Pietrangeli Dies at the Age of 92
The tennis champion stands as among a select trio of Italian men to win a major singles title.
The world of tennis mourns a authentic legend: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double French Open champion, has died at 92.
Pietrangeli etched his name by emerging as the pioneering Italian to capture a Grand Slam singles title, earning his maiden triumph at Roland Garros in 1959 and retaining the coveted trophy in 1960.
With a staggering 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was universally regarded as the nation's greatest ever player until the rise of current star and four-times major winner Jannik Sinner.
"Italian tennis is grieving an icon. Nicola Pietrangeli, the sole Italian inducted in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, has died," announced the national federation.
Alongside his two French Open triumphs, Pietrangeli also was the finalist in Paris in both 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 two-time winner, said: "We are profoundly saddened that we say goodbye to Nicola Pietrangeli, a veritable legend of Italian tennis..."
