Italy's Tennis Legend Nicola Pietrangeli Has Died at the Age of 92

Italian sport says goodbye to a genuine icon: Nicola Pietrangeli, a double French Open champion, left us at ninety-two.

The player made history by emerging as the pioneering Italian to secure a Grand Slam singles title, securing his first triumph at the French Open in 1959 and successfully defending the prestigious trophy in 1960.

With a staggering 48 career titles, Pietrangeli was long held to be the nation's greatest ever player prior to the emergence of current world number two and four-times major winner Jannik Sinner.

"Italian tennis is mourning an legend. Nicola Pietrangeli, the only Italian honored in the World Tennis Hall of Fame, has passed away," stated the national federation.

Alongside his two French Open victories, Pietrangeli also finished as runner-up in Paris in both 1961 and 1964.

He boasts a remarkable 164 matches played for Italy in the prestigious team competition, winning 120 of them, and spearheaded his country to its first title in 1976.

Organisers of the Italian Open, an event where he was a two-time winner, said: "We are profoundly saddened that we say goodbye to Nicola Pietrangeli, a true legend of Italian tennis..."