Italian Court Icon Nicola Pietrangeli Has Died at 92
Nicola Pietrangeli remains one of only three Italian men to secure a Grand Slam singles title.
Italian sport says goodbye to a true icon: Nicola Pietrangeli, a two-time French Open champion, left us at 92.
The player made history by emerging as the initial Italian to win a Grand Slam singles title, earning his maiden triumph at Roland Garros in 1959 and successfully defending the coveted trophy a year later.
With an impressive 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was widely considered the country's greatest ever player prior to the emergence of current world number two and four-times major winner Jannik Sinner.
"The sport in Italy is grieving an legend. Nicola Pietrangeli, the sole Italian enrolled in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, has died," confirmed the national federation.
Beyond his pair of 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 prestigious team competition, securing victories in 120 of them, and spearheaded his country to its maiden title in 1976.
Organisers of the Italian Open, an event where he was a double winner, commented: "We are profoundly saddened that we bid farewell to Nicola Pietrangeli, a true legend of Italian tennis..."