Italian Court Great Nicola Pietrangeli Has Died at Ninety-Two
The tennis champion is one of only three Italian men to secure a major singles title.
Italian sport is mourning a true icon: Nicola Pietrangeli, a two-time French Open champion, has died at 92.
The player made history by becoming the pioneering Italian to win a Grand Slam singles title, securing his initial triumph at the French Open in 1959 and successfully defending the prestigious trophy a year later.
With a staggering 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was long held to be the nation's greatest ever player until the advent of current world number two and four-time major winner Jannik Sinner.
"The sport in Italy is in mourning for an icon. Nicola Pietrangeli, the only Italian enrolled in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, has died," confirmed the Italian Tennis Federation.
Alongside his pair of French Open successes, Pietrangeli also was the finalist 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 guided his country to its first title in 1976.
Officials of the Italian Open, where he was a two-time winner, commented: "We are profoundly saddened that we say goodbye to Nicola Pietrangeli, a veritable legend of Italian tennis..."