Azzurri Court Legend Nicola Pietrangeli Has Died at 92
The tennis champion stands as one of only three Italian men to secure a Grand Slam singles title.
Italian sport is mourning a true legend: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double French Open champion, left us at ninety-two.
The player made history by emerging as the first Italian to secure a Grand Slam singles title, achieving his maiden triumph at Roland Garros in 1959 and successfully defending the coveted trophy a year later.
With a staggering 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was universally regarded as the country's greatest ever player prior to the advent of current star and four-times 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 passed away," announced the Italian Tennis Federation.
In addition to 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 Davis Cup, securing victories in 120 of them, and guided his country to its first 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..."
