Italy's Tennis Great Nicola Pietrangeli Dies at Ninety-Two
The tennis champion is among a select trio of Italian men to secure a major singles title.
Italian sport says goodbye to a genuine legend: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double French Open champion, left us at ninety-two.
The player made history by emerging as the pioneering Italian to capture a Grand Slam singles title, earning his initial triumph at Roland Garros in 1959 and retaining the prestigious trophy in 1960.
With an impressive 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was universally regarded as the nation's greatest ever player until the emergence of current star and four-times major winner Jannik Sinner.
"Italian tennis is grieving an titan. Nicola Pietrangeli, the sole Italian honored in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, has died," announced the national federation.
Beyond his two French Open triumphs, Pietrangeli also finished as runner-up in Paris in both 1961 and 1964.
He holds a remarkable 164 matches played for Italy in the Davis Cup, winning 120 of them, and spearheaded his country to its maiden title in 1976.
Officials of the Italian Open, where he was a two-time winner, said: "We are profoundly saddened that we bid farewell to Nicola Pietrangeli, a true legend of Italian tennis..."
