Azzurri Tennis Icon Nicola Pietrangeli Passes Away at the Age of 92
The tennis champion stands as among a select trio of Italian men to secure a major singles title.
The world of tennis mourns a genuine pioneer: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double French Open champion, passed away at the age of 92.
The player made history by emerging as the pioneering Italian to secure a Grand Slam singles title, earning his maiden triumph at the French Open in 1959 and successfully defending the coveted trophy in 1960.
With a staggering 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was universally regarded as the country's finest player prior to the rise of current world number two and four-times major winner Jannik Sinner.
"Italian tennis is mourning an legend. Nicola Pietrangeli, the sole Italian inducted in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, has passed away," confirmed the Italian Tennis Federation.
Alongside his pair of French Open triumphs, Pietrangeli also was the finalist in Paris in the years 1961 and 1964.
He boasts a remarkable 164 matches played for Italy in the Davis Cup, winning 120 of them, and led his country to its maiden title in 1976.
Officials of the Italian Open, an event where he was a double winner, stated: "We are profoundly saddened that we say goodbye to Nicola Pietrangeli, a true legend of Italian tennis..."
