🔗 Share this article Azzurri Tennis Icon Nicola Pietrangeli Passes Away at 92 The tennis champion remains among a select trio of Italian men to win a major singles title. Italian sport says goodbye to a genuine pioneer: Nicola Pietrangeli, a two-time French Open champion, has died at 92. The player made history by becoming the pioneering Italian to capture a Grand Slam singles title, securing his maiden triumph at the French Open in 1959 and retaining the coveted trophy the following year. With a remarkable 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was long held to be the nation's most accomplished player until the emergence of current star and four-times major winner Jannik Sinner. "Italian tennis is in mourning for an legend. Nicola Pietrangeli, the sole Italian enrolled in the World Tennis Hall of Fame, has died," confirmed the national federation. Alongside his pair of French Open victories, Pietrangeli also finished as runner-up in Paris in the years 1961 and 1964. He boasts a record 164 matches played for Italy in the Davis Cup, securing victories in 120 of them, and led his country to its first title in 1976. Officials of the Italian Open, an event where he was a two-time winner, commented: "It is with deep sadness that we bid farewell to Nicola Pietrangeli, a veritable legend of Italian tennis..."
The tennis champion remains among a select trio of Italian men to win a major singles title. Italian sport says goodbye to a genuine pioneer: Nicola Pietrangeli, a two-time French Open champion, has died at 92. The player made history by becoming the pioneering Italian to capture a Grand Slam singles title, securing his maiden triumph at the French Open in 1959 and retaining the coveted trophy the following year. With a remarkable 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was long held to be the nation's most accomplished player until the emergence of current star and four-times major winner Jannik Sinner. "Italian tennis is in mourning for an legend. Nicola Pietrangeli, the sole Italian enrolled in the World Tennis Hall of Fame, has died," confirmed the national federation. Alongside his pair of French Open victories, Pietrangeli also finished as runner-up in Paris in the years 1961 and 1964. He boasts a record 164 matches played for Italy in the Davis Cup, securing victories in 120 of them, and led his country to its first title in 1976. Officials of the Italian Open, an event where he was a two-time winner, commented: "It is with deep sadness that we bid farewell to Nicola Pietrangeli, a veritable legend of Italian tennis..."