Italy's Tennis Icon Nicola Pietrangeli Has Died at 92
The tennis champion stands as one of only three Italian men to win a Grand Slam singles title.
Italian sport mourns a genuine pioneer: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double French Open champion, left us at ninety-two.
Pietrangeli etched his name by becoming the initial Italian to secure a Grand Slam singles title, achieving his initial triumph at Roland Garros in 1959 and successfully defending the coveted trophy the following year.
With an impressive 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was long held to be the nation's greatest ever player prior to the rise of current star and four-time major winner Jannik Sinner.
"The sport in Italy is mourning an icon. Nicola Pietrangeli, the sole Italian enrolled in the World Tennis Hall of Fame, has died," stated the Italian Tennis Federation.
In addition to his two French Open triumphs, Pietrangeli also reached the final 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 guided his country to its maiden title in 1976.
Officials of the Italian Open, an event where he was a double winner, commented: "We are profoundly saddened that we say goodbye to Nicola Pietrangeli, a veritable legend of Italian tennis..."
