Italian Court Icon Nicola Pietrangeli Dies at 92
The tennis champion is among a select trio of Italian men to secure a Grand Slam singles title.
Italian sport mourns a genuine icon: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double French Open champion, has died at 92.
The player made history by emerging as the initial Italian to capture a Grand Slam singles title, earning his maiden triumph at the French Open in 1959 and successfully defending the coveted trophy in 1960.
With a staggering 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was widely considered the nation's most accomplished player prior to the emergence of current world number two and four-times major winner Jannik Sinner.
"Italian tennis is grieving an legend. Nicola Pietrangeli, the sole Italian inducted in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, has died," announced the Italian Tennis Federation.
In addition to his pair of French Open triumphs, Pietrangeli also finished as runner-up in Paris in the years 1961 and 1964.
He holds a record 164 matches played for Italy in the Davis Cup, securing victories in 120 of them, and led his country to its maiden title in 1976.
Officials of the Italian Open, where he was a two-time winner, stated: "We are profoundly saddened that we bid farewell to Nicola Pietrangeli, a veritable legend of Italian tennis..."
