🔗 Share this article Azzurri Tennis Icon Nicola Pietrangeli Has Died at 92 Nicola Pietrangeli stands as among a select trio of Italian men to secure a Grand Slam singles title. Italian sport mourns a authentic icon: Nicola Pietrangeli, a two-time French Open champion, passed away at ninety-two. The player made history by emerging as the initial Italian to capture a Grand Slam singles title, earning his initial triumph at Roland Garros 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 finest player prior to the rise of current world number two and four-time major winner Jannik Sinner. "Italian tennis is grieving an icon. Nicola Pietrangeli, the sole Italian enrolled in the World Tennis Hall of Fame, has died," announced the Italian Tennis Federation. In addition to his two French Open triumphs, Pietrangeli also reached the final in Paris in the years 1961 and 1964. He boasts a remarkable 164 matches played for Italy in the Davis Cup, winning 120 of them, and guided his country to its first title in 1976. Officials 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..."
Nicola Pietrangeli stands as among a select trio of Italian men to secure a Grand Slam singles title. Italian sport mourns a authentic icon: Nicola Pietrangeli, a two-time French Open champion, passed away at ninety-two. The player made history by emerging as the initial Italian to capture a Grand Slam singles title, earning his initial triumph at Roland Garros 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 finest player prior to the rise of current world number two and four-time major winner Jannik Sinner. "Italian tennis is grieving an icon. Nicola Pietrangeli, the sole Italian enrolled in the World Tennis Hall of Fame, has died," announced the Italian Tennis Federation. In addition to his two French Open triumphs, Pietrangeli also reached the final in Paris in the years 1961 and 1964. He boasts a remarkable 164 matches played for Italy in the Davis Cup, winning 120 of them, and guided his country to its first title in 1976. Officials 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..."