Italian Tennis Legend Nicola Pietrangeli Dies at Ninety-Two
The tennis champion is among a select trio of Italian men to secure a Grand Slam singles title.
Italian sport says goodbye to a true legend: Nicola Pietrangeli, a two-time French Open champion, passed away at ninety-two.
The player made history by emerging as the first Italian to win a Grand Slam singles title, achieving his maiden triumph at the French Open in 1959 and successfully defending the coveted trophy a year later.
With a staggering 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was long held to be the nation's finest player prior to the rise of current star and four-time major winner Jannik Sinner.
"Italian tennis is grieving an titan. Nicola Pietrangeli, the sole Italian enrolled in the World Tennis Hall of Fame, has died," announced the Italian Tennis Federation.
Beyond his pair of French Open successes, Pietrangeli also reached the final in Paris in the years 1961 and 1964.
He boasts a record 164 matches played for Italy in the prestigious team competition, winning 120 of them, and spearheaded his country to its inaugural 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 say goodbye to Nicola Pietrangeli, a veritable legend of Italian tennis..."
