🔗 Share this article Azzurri Court Great Nicola Pietrangeli Dies at Ninety-Two Nicola Pietrangeli is among a select trio of Italian men to secure a major singles title. Italian sport mourns a true icon: Nicola Pietrangeli, a two-time French Open champion, has died at 92. The player made history by emerging as the initial Italian to win a Grand Slam singles title, earning his maiden triumph at the French Open in 1959 and successfully defending the coveted trophy a year later. With an impressive 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was widely considered the nation's greatest ever player prior to the rise of current world number two and four-times major winner Jannik Sinner. "Italian tennis is grieving an legend. Nicola Pietrangeli, the only Italian honored in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, has died," announced the Italian Tennis Federation. Beyond his two French Open successes, Pietrangeli also reached the final in Paris in both 1961 and 1964. He set a record 164 matches played for Italy in the prestigious team competition, winning 120 of them, and guided his country to its first title in 1976. Officials of the Italian Open, an event 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 among a select trio of Italian men to secure a major singles title. Italian sport mourns a true icon: Nicola Pietrangeli, a two-time French Open champion, has died at 92. The player made history by emerging as the initial Italian to win a Grand Slam singles title, earning his maiden triumph at the French Open in 1959 and successfully defending the coveted trophy a year later. With an impressive 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was widely considered the nation's greatest ever player prior to the rise of current world number two and four-times major winner Jannik Sinner. "Italian tennis is grieving an legend. Nicola Pietrangeli, the only Italian honored in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, has died," announced the Italian Tennis Federation. Beyond his two French Open successes, Pietrangeli also reached the final in Paris in both 1961 and 1964. He set a record 164 matches played for Italy in the prestigious team competition, winning 120 of them, and guided his country to its first title in 1976. Officials of the Italian Open, an event 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..."