Nicola Pietrangeli, Italy's most accomplished tennis player before Jannik Sinner, dies at 92

ROME (AP) — Nicola Pietrangeli, the Italian tennis champion of the 1950s and 1960s whose records were only recently broken by Jannik Sinner but who remains the Davis Cup all-time leader in wins, has died. He was 92.

The Italian Tennis and Padel Federation announced Pietrangeli's death on Monday, without providing a cause.

Rafael Nadal, who often received the Italian Open trophy from Pietrangeli as he won the Rome tournament a record 10 times, posted in Italian on X: “I just heard the sad news about the passing of an Italian and world tennis great. My sincerest condolences to his family, his son Filippo and the entire Italian tennis family. RIP Nicola.”

Nicola Chirinsky Pietrangeli was born in Tunis, which was a French colony at the time, to an Italian father and a Russian mother.

He is the only Italian player in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, which said Pietrangeli “had classic strokes, a conventional game plan, and an economy of effort that made him a supreme clay court player.”

Pietrangeli was the first Italian to win a Grand Slam singles trophy, at the French Championships in 1959 and repeated in 1960. He defeated Ian Vermaak of South Africa 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-1 in the ‘59 final, and Luis Ayala of Chile 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in the ’60 final. The two singles majors weren't surpassed by an Italian until this year when Sinner won his third and fourth titles.

“I won $150 for the 1960 title, which covered two months rent for my home in Rome,” Pietrangeli told the Gazzetta dello Sport in 2020.

Pietrangeli was also runner-up at Roland Garros in 1961 and 1964, losing both finals to Spanish great Manuel Santana.

“In 1964 Santana and I made a bet whereby the loser would pay for dinner,” Pietrangeli said. “I honored the agreement and 10 of us went out that night, including our wives, and Manolo invited (Spanish soccer player) Luisito Suárez. I spent my entire earnings from the tournament to cover the evening.”

Pietrangeli also won the 1959 French Championships doubles with countryman Orlando Sirola, and the 1958 French mixed title with Australian Shirley Bloomer. He rarely travelled to Australia and the United States, but was a regular at Wimbledon where he showed his all-court expertise by taking Rod Laver to five sets in the 1960 semifinals.

“Nicola Pietrangeli was not only the first to teach us what it really meant to win, on and off the court," Italian federation president Angelo Binaghi said. "He was the starting point for everything that our tennis (movement) has become.”

Davis Cup records

In Davis Cup, Pietrangeli holds the record for total wins and singles wins from 66 ties from 1954-72. His singles record was 78-32 and his doubles record was 42-12. He also formed half of the most successful Davis Cup doubles partnership with Sirola. They won 34 of their 42 matches.

Pietrangeli never won the Davis Cup as a player, losing both of his final appearances in Australia against Laver and Roy Emerson. But he won the Davis Cup as the captain in 1976 with a win over Chile in Santiago, played amid the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.

Italy was urged not to travel to Chile but Pietrangeli pushed for the Azzurri to go.

“That was really my biggest contribution for that final,” he said. “Without me, Italy would have not travelled to that final and we wouldn’t have won.”

Italy, led by Sinner, didn't win the Davis Cup again until 2023.

“Nicola Pietrangeli was the true embodiment of everything Davis Cup represents — passion, prestige and pride in representing your nation,” International Tennis Federation president David Haggerty said. “As well as reaching the top of the game as an individual, Nicola truly understood what it meant to play tennis for something bigger than himself, and his incredible achievements are carved into the 125-year history of the Davis Cup."