Two-time French Open champion and Italian tennis superstar Nicola Pietrangeli has died at the age of 92.
Pietrangeli won the French Open for the first time in 1959, becoming the first Italian to win a Grand Slam singles title and defending the trophy a year later.
Pietrangeli, who has 48 career titles, was widely regarded as the country’s greatest ever player until the emergence of current world number two and four-time Grand Slam winner Jannik Sinner.
The Italian Tennis Federation (FITP) confirmed on Monday that “the Italian tennis community is mourning an icon. Nicola Pietrangeli, the only Italian inducted into the World Tennis Hall of Fame, has passed away.”
In addition to his two French Open successes, Pietrangeli also finished runner-up in Paris in 1961 and 1964.
He played a record 164 Davis Cup games for Italy, winning 120 games, and led Italy to its first championship in 1976.
He was a two-time Italian Open champion and organizers of the Italian Open said: “It is with deep sadness that we say goodbye to Nicola Pietrangeli, a true legend of Italian tennis… Goodbye, Nicola.”
