He won Roland Garros twice and led Italy to Davis Cup triumph as captain. Now Nicola Pietrangeli has died. Most recently, he caused a stir with his criticism of a current superstar.
Former Italian world-class tennis player Nicola Pietrangeli has died at the age of 92. The news was announced by the national tennis association FITP, which paid tribute to him as “the greatest symbol of Italian tennis.”
Pietrangeli was his country’s first Grand Slam tournament winner. Before the era of professional tennis, he won the International French Championships, the predecessor of the French Open at Stade Roland Garros, in 1959 and 1960. He also captained the Italian team to victory in the Davis Cup in 1976.
“I have just received the sad news of the death of a great figure in Italian and global tennis,” said Spain’s Rafael Nadal, paying tribute to the deceased on X.
In recent weeks, Pietrangeli had attracted attention with his criticism of Italian tennis star Jannik Sinner. He described the decision by the world number two from South Tyrol to withdraw from the Davis Cup for his country as a “slap in the face for the sporting world.” Italy won the final against Spain 2-0 last month even without Sinner.