Nicola Pietrangelitwice winner Roland Garros The first Italian to win the tournament Major SlamsHe died today, Monday, at the age of 92, according to the Italian Tennis Federation.
“Italian tennis mourns an icon. Nicola Pietrangeli, the only Italian to be part of the World Tennis Hall of Fame, dies at 92”FITP wrote in his X account.
He was born in Tunisia in 1933 to an Italian father and a Russian mother. Pietrangeli was considered, until the emergence of Jannik Sinner, the best Italian tennis player in history.
In his career, which developed mainly before the open era, Pietrangeli won 48 titles as a single playerincluding two editions of Roland Garros (1959 and 1960), according to La Gazzetta dello Sport.
On the Parisian clay courts, he lost two more finals to the Spaniards Manuel Santanain the years 1961 and 1964.
On his favorite surfaces, he also won three titles in Monte Carlo (1961, 1967, 1968) and two titles in Rome (1957, 1961).
Pietrangeli also reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon in 1960, where he lost to the Australian. Rod Laver.
His career was also marked by Davis CupIt is a competition in which he played a total of 164 matches, in singles and doubles, which is a record, achieving 120 victories. However, he was never able to win that tournament: he lost the finals in 1960 and 1961, both to Australia.
Yes, he was the captain of the Italian team that won the first Silver Power in 1976. One of the main stadiums of the Foro Italico, the place where it is held every year Rome Masters 1000bears his name.