Italy's Tennis Legend Nicola Pietrangeli Has Died at 92
The tennis champion stands as one of only three Italian men to claim a major singles title.
Italian sport says goodbye to a genuine legend: Nicola Pietrangeli, a two-time French Open champion, passed away at the age of 92.
He carved his legacy by emerging as the first Italian to capture a Grand Slam singles title, earning his first triumph at the French Open in 1959 and retaining the prestigious trophy in 1960.
With a staggering 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was long held to be the nation's greatest ever player until the rise of current world number two and four-times major winner Jannik Sinner.
"The sport in Italy is grieving an legend. Nicola Pietrangeli, the only Italian enrolled in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, has passed away," announced the Italian Tennis Federation.
In addition to his pair of French Open triumphs, Pietrangeli also was the finalist in Paris in both 1961 and 1964.
He holds a remarkable 164 matches played for Italy in the prestigious team competition, winning 120 of them, and guided his country to its maiden title in 1976.
Organisers of the Italian Open, where he was a double winner, said: "We are profoundly saddened that we say goodbye to Nicola Pietrangeli, a true legend of Italian tennis..."
