Italy's Court Icon Nicola Pietrangeli Has Died at 92
The tennis champion remains among a select trio of Italian men to win a Grand Slam singles title.
Italian sport is mourning a genuine icon: Nicola Pietrangeli, a two-time French Open champion, left us at ninety-two.
The player made history by becoming the initial Italian to capture a Grand Slam singles title, earning his first triumph at Roland Garros in 1959 and successfully defending the prestigious trophy a year later.
With a staggering 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was universally regarded as the country's greatest ever player until the advent of current world number two and four-time major winner Jannik Sinner.
"The sport in Italy is in mourning for an icon. Nicola Pietrangeli, the sole Italian inducted in the World Tennis Hall of Fame, has died," stated the Italian Tennis Federation.
Beyond his pair of French Open triumphs, Pietrangeli also reached the final in Paris in both 1961 and 1964.
He set a record 164 matches played for Italy in the prestigious team competition, securing victories in 120 of them, and spearheaded his country to its inaugural 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 veritable legend of Italian tennis..."
