By Richard Pagliaro | Monday, December 1, 2025
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons
Italy has lost an icon.
Former world No. 3 Nicola Pietrangeli, regarded as the greatest Italian player in the Pre-Open Era, has died at age 92.
The Italian Tennis Federation announced Pietrangeli’s passing today on social media. No cause of death was given.
A classic clay-court champion with artful strokes and unrelenting resolve, Pietrangeli won successive Roland Garros singles titles in 1959 and 1960. He partnered Orlando Sirola to claim the French Open doubles championship in 1959 and reached the Wimbledon singles semifinals in 1960.
A devoted team player, Pietrangeli captained the Italian Davis Cup team to the Davis Cup championship in 1976. Davis Cup hero Pietrangeli still owns Italy’s record for most Davis Cup singles wins and most Davis Cup victories. He posted a 78-32 singles record and his doubles record was 42-12.
“Solidly built, possessing exceptional instincts for the game and anticipation, 5-foot-11 Nicky was an all -around performer, who moved with grace and purpose,” Hall of Famer Bud Collins wrote of the Italian icon in his Encyclopedia of Tennis. “His was a career of the amateur era during which he won 53 singles titles and was in the world Top 10 five times between 1957 and 1964, No. 3 in 1959 and 1960.”
Pietrangeli was the first Italian ever inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1986. Read his Hall of Fame bio here.