Italian tennis icon Pietrangeli d!es at 92

(FILES) Former Italian tennis player Nicola Pietrangeli poses at the ATP Rome Open tennis tournament on May 11, 2022 at Foro Italico in Rome. Nicola Pietrangeli, a two-time winner of the French Open, has died at the age of 92, Italy’s tennis federation announced on December 1, 2025. (Photo by Andreas SOLARO / AFP)

Italian tennis icon Pietrangeli dies at 92

A two-time winner of the French Open, Nicola Pietrangeli, has died at the age of 92, Italy’s tennis federation announced on Monday.

“Italian tennis is mourning an icon. Nicola Pietrangeli, the only Italian inducted into the World Tennis Hall of Fame, has died,” said the FITP

Born in Tunis in 1933 to an Italian father and Russian mother, Pietrangeli was widely considered the country’s greatest ever tennis player until the emergence of current world number two Jannik Sinner.

Pietrangeli won 44 other singles titles over his career, including his two triumphs at Roland Garros in 1959 and 1960.

He also lost two finals in Paris to Manuel Santana, in 1961 and 1964, and reached the Wimbledon final in the same year as his second French Open title.

“It is with deep sadness that we say goodbye to Nicola Pietrangeli, a true legend of Italian tennis… Ciao, Nicola,” said the organisers of the Italian Open tournament, which he won twice.

Pietrangeli was also a Davis Cup stalwart, playing 164 matches for Italy and, as captain, leading his country to its first title in 1976.

AFP