Decades before Jannik Sinner, Nicola Pietrangeli was the darling of Italian tennis. The son of an Italian father who had emigrated to Tunis (then under French protectorate) and a Russian noblewoman who had fled the October Revolution, Pietrangeli, the first Italian tennis player to win a Grand Slam tournament, died at the age of 92, Italy’s tennis federation announced on Monday, December 1.
With Pietrangeli’s death, Italian sports is mourning one of the country’s greatest champions. He embodied Italy, not only through his record of achievements, but also his style, his charm and the refinement of his game. “He was the only one (…) over the fortnight to show a bit of spirit and subtlety,” The World wrote after Pietrangeli’s first triumph on the clay courts of Roland-Garros in 1959, describing him as the “only player of class” at the Paris Grand Slam tournament.
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