Italy's Tennis Icon Nicola Pietrangeli Dies at 92
The tennis champion is one of only three Italian men to win a Grand Slam singles title.
Italian sport is mourning a genuine legend: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double French Open champion, left us at the age of 92.
The player made history by becoming the pioneering Italian to secure a Grand Slam singles title, securing his initial triumph at Roland Garros in 1959 and retaining the coveted trophy in 1960.
With an impressive 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was widely considered the country's greatest ever player until the advent of current world number two and four-times major winner Jannik Sinner.
"Italian tennis is mourning an icon. Nicola Pietrangeli, the sole Italian honored in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, has passed away," stated the Italian Tennis Federation.
Beyond his pair of French Open triumphs, Pietrangeli also was the finalist in Paris in both 1961 and 1964.
He boasts a record 164 matches played for Italy in the Davis Cup, winning 120 of them, and led his country to its inaugural title in 1976.
Organisers of the Italian Open, an event where he was a double winner, stated: "It is with deep sadness that we say goodbye to Nicola Pietrangeli, a true legend of Italian tennis..."
