There was no good news on Monday from the Italian Tennis Association, which recently celebrated its third Davis Cup success in a row: Nicola Pietrangelit country’s first Grand Slam winner and an icon of his sport, is in Died in Rome at the age of 92. He was his country’s tennis pioneer.
In 1959, Pietrangeli was the first Italian to celebrate a Grand Slam title. At that time he won the French Open, then still the French championships, and in 1960 he repeated the success. In 1976 Pietrangeli led Italy as Team boss for Davis Cup victory. As a player he was never granted this title, but Pietrangeli holds a number of records: With In 164, he played the most games in national competitions worldwide – his 78 individual victories are also a record. Not just Italian.