Italy's Tennis Legend Nicola Pietrangeli Dies at the Age of 92
The tennis champion is among a select trio of Italian men to secure a major singles title.
Italian sport says goodbye to a authentic legend: Nicola Pietrangeli, a two-time French Open champion, passed away at the age of 92.
Pietrangeli etched his name by becoming the pioneering Italian to win a Grand Slam singles title, achieving his first triumph at Roland Garros in 1959 and retaining the prestigious trophy in 1960.
With a staggering 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was widely considered the country's finest player prior to the emergence of current world number two and four-times major winner Jannik Sinner.
"Italian tennis is grieving an titan. Nicola Pietrangeli, the sole Italian honored in the World Tennis Hall of Fame, has died," confirmed the Italian Tennis Federation.
Beyond his pair of French Open victories, Pietrangeli also reached the final in Paris in the years 1961 and 1964.
He boasts a record 164 matches played for Italy in the prestigious team competition, securing victories in 120 of them, and led his country to its inaugural title in 1976.
Officials of the Italian Open, an event where he was a double winner, said: "We are profoundly saddened that we bid farewell to Nicola Pietrangeli, a veritable legend of Italian tennis..."