🔗 Share this article Azzurri Tennis Legend Nicola Pietrangeli Has Died at the Age of 92 Nicola Pietrangeli is one of only three Italian men to secure a major singles title. Italian sport says goodbye to a genuine icon: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double French Open champion, left us at ninety-two. Pietrangeli etched his name by emerging as the initial Italian to secure a Grand Slam singles title, earning his first triumph at Roland Garros in 1959 and retaining the coveted trophy the following year. With an impressive 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was universally regarded as the country's greatest ever player prior to the rise of current star and four-times major winner Jannik Sinner. "The sport in Italy is grieving an titan. Nicola Pietrangeli, the sole Italian enrolled in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, has passed away," confirmed the national federation. Alongside his pair of French Open victories, Pietrangeli also was the finalist in Paris in both 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. Organisers of the Italian Open, where he was a double winner, said: "It is with deep sadness that we say goodbye to Nicola Pietrangeli, a true legend of Italian tennis..."
Nicola Pietrangeli is one of only three Italian men to secure a major singles title. Italian sport says goodbye to a genuine icon: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double French Open champion, left us at ninety-two. Pietrangeli etched his name by emerging as the initial Italian to secure a Grand Slam singles title, earning his first triumph at Roland Garros in 1959 and retaining the coveted trophy the following year. With an impressive 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was universally regarded as the country's greatest ever player prior to the rise of current star and four-times major winner Jannik Sinner. "The sport in Italy is grieving an titan. Nicola Pietrangeli, the sole Italian enrolled in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, has passed away," confirmed the national federation. Alongside his pair of French Open victories, Pietrangeli also was the finalist in Paris in both 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. Organisers of the Italian Open, where he was a double winner, said: "It is with deep sadness that we say goodbye to Nicola Pietrangeli, a true legend of Italian tennis..."