Italy's Court Great Nicola Pietrangeli Passes Away at the Age of 92
The tennis champion remains one of only three Italian men to win a major singles title.
The world of tennis is mourning a true icon: Nicola Pietrangeli, a two-time French Open champion, has died at the age of 92.
The player made history by becoming the first Italian to secure a Grand Slam singles title, securing his initial triumph at the French Open in 1959 and successfully defending the prestigious trophy a year later.
With a remarkable 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was universally regarded as the nation's greatest ever player until the rise of current world number two and four-time major winner Jannik Sinner.
"Italian tennis is mourning an icon. Nicola Pietrangeli, the sole Italian enrolled in the World Tennis Hall of Fame, has passed away," announced the national federation.
Alongside his pair of French Open victories, Pietrangeli also reached the final in Paris in both 1961 and 1964.
He boasts a remarkable 164 matches played for Italy in the prestigious team competition, winning 120 of them, and led his country to its inaugural title in 1976.
Officials of the Italian Open, where he was a double winner, commented: "We are profoundly saddened that we say goodbye to Nicola Pietrangeli, a veritable legend of Italian tennis..."
