Italy's Tennis Great Nicola Pietrangeli Passes Away at Ninety-Two
The tennis champion remains one of only three Italian men to claim a Grand Slam singles title.
Italian sport is mourning a genuine legend: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double French Open champion, passed away at ninety-two.
Pietrangeli etched his name by becoming the initial Italian to capture a Grand Slam singles title, earning his first triumph at Roland Garros in 1959 and retaining the coveted trophy a year later.
With a staggering 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was universally regarded as the nation's greatest ever player prior to the advent of current world number two and four-time major winner Jannik Sinner.
"Italian tennis is mourning an titan. Nicola Pietrangeli, the only Italian inducted in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, has died," stated the Italian Tennis Federation.
Alongside his pair of 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 Davis Cup, winning 120 of them, and spearheaded his country to its first title in 1976.
Organisers of the Italian Open, where he was a two-time winner, commented: "We are profoundly saddened that we say goodbye to Nicola Pietrangeli, a veritable legend of Italian tennis..."
