Italian Tennis Great Nicola Pietrangeli Passes Away at 92
Nicola Pietrangeli remains one of only three Italian men to win a major singles title.
The world of tennis says goodbye to a true legend: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double French Open champion, passed away at 92.
The player made history by emerging as the pioneering Italian to win a Grand Slam singles title, achieving his initial triumph at the French Open in 1959 and retaining the coveted trophy in 1960.
With a staggering 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was widely considered the nation's greatest ever player prior to the emergence of current star and four-times major winner Jannik Sinner.
"Italian tennis is mourning an icon. Nicola Pietrangeli, the only Italian inducted in the World Tennis Hall of Fame, has passed away," announced the national federation.
Alongside his two French Open victories, Pietrangeli also was the finalist in Paris in both 1961 and 1964.
He boasts a remarkable 164 matches played for Italy in the prestigious team competition, securing victories in 120 of them, and guided his country to its first title in 1976.
Organisers of the Italian Open, an event where he was a double winner, said: "We are profoundly saddened that we say goodbye to Nicola Pietrangeli, a veritable legend of Italian tennis..."
