Azzurri Tennis Legend Nicola Pietrangeli Dies at 92
Nicola Pietrangeli is among a select trio of Italian men to win a major singles title.
Italian sport mourns a authentic legend: Nicola Pietrangeli, a two-time French Open champion, has died at the age of 92.
Pietrangeli etched his name by becoming the initial Italian to win a Grand Slam singles title, achieving his initial triumph at the French Open in 1959 and retaining the coveted trophy a year later.
With a staggering 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was long held to be the country's most accomplished player prior to the rise of current world number two and four-times major winner Jannik Sinner.
"The sport in Italy is mourning an titan. Nicola Pietrangeli, the sole Italian honored in the World Tennis Hall of Fame, has passed away," announced the national federation.
Alongside his pair of French Open victories, Pietrangeli also was the finalist in Paris in the years 1961 and 1964.
He set a record 164 matches played for Italy in the Davis Cup, securing victories in 120 of them, and led his country to its inaugural title in 1976.
Organisers of the Italian Open, an event where he was a two-time winner, said: "It is with deep sadness that we bid farewell to Nicola Pietrangeli, a veritable legend of Italian tennis..."
