Italian Court Great Nicola Pietrangeli Dies at Ninety-Two
The tennis champion is among a select trio of Italian men to win a major singles title.
Italian sport says goodbye to a true pioneer: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double French Open champion, has died at the age of 92.
The player made history by becoming the pioneering Italian to win a Grand Slam singles title, achieving his first triumph at Roland Garros in 1959 and successfully defending the prestigious trophy in 1960.
With a staggering 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-time major winner Jannik Sinner.
"Italian tennis is grieving an titan. Nicola Pietrangeli, the only Italian inducted in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, has died," confirmed the national federation.
In addition to his two French Open victories, 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 guided his country to its first title in 1976.
Officials of the Italian Open, 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..."
