Nicola "Nicky" Pietrangeli (; born 11 September 1933) is a former Italian

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...

player. He won two singles titles at the

French Championships The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ve ...

and is considered by many to be Italy's greatest tennis champion.

Biography

Born 11 September 1933, in

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

, Pietrangeli made his international debut at the 1952

Italian Open Italian Open may refer to: *Italian Open (tennis), a Masters 1000 level tennis tournament played in Rome each year. *Italian Open (golf) The DS Automobiles Italian Open ( it, Open d'Italia) is the men's national open golf championship of Italy. I ...

, losing in fours sets to Jacques Peten. He appeared in four men's singles finals at Roland Garros – winning the title in 1959 and 1960, and finishing runner-up in 1961 and 1964. He also won the Roland Garros men's doubles title in 1959 (together with

Orlando Sirola Orlando Sirola (30 April 1928 – 13 November 1995) was a male tennis player from Italy. Biography Sirola was born in Fiume, today the Croatian city of Rijeka. He only began playing tennis at the age of 22. In 1958 he won the singles title a ...

), and the mixed doubles in 1958. At Wimbledon, Pietrangeli was a single semifinalist in

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

, when he lost to

Rod Laver Rodney George Laver (born 9 August 1938) is an Australian former tennis player. Laver was the world number 1 ranked professional in some sources in 1964, in all sources from 1965 to 1969 and in some sources in 1970, spanning four years befor ...

in 5 sets. He won the

in 1957 and 1961 and was ranked World No. 3 by Lance Tingay of ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' in 1959 and 1960 and also by Ned Potter in 1961."Hard Won Major U.S. Title"
''The Milwaukee Sentinel'', 25 December 1961. Pietrangeli represented Italy in the

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organi ...

between 1954 and 1972. He played in a record 164 Davis Cup rubbers, winning a record 120. He was a player on the Italian teams which reached the Davis Cup final in 1960 and 1961. Both finals were played on grass courts in Australia, and the Italians were not able to overcome the strong Australian team which included Laver,

Roy Emerson Roy Stanley Emerson (born 3 November 1936) is an Australian former tennis player who won 12 Grand Slam singles titles and 16 Grand Slam doubles titles, for a total of 28 Grand Slam titles. He is the only male player to have completed a car ...

and

Neale Fraser Neale Andrew Fraser (born 3 October 1933) is a former number one amateur male tennis-player from Australia, born in Melbourne, Victoria, the son of a Victorian judge. Fraser is the last man to have completed the triple crown, i.e. having won ...

. After retiring as a player, Pietrangeli became Italy's Davis Cup team captain and guided them to winning their first-ever Davis Cup in 1976. Pietrangeli was inducted in the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1986. On his 73rd birthday, the old tennis stadium in

Foro Italico Foro Italico is a sports complex in Rome, Italy, on the slopes of Monte Mario. It was built between 1928 and 1938 as the Foro Mussolini (literally Mussolini's Forum) under the design of Enrico Del Debbio and, later, Luigi Moretti. Inspire ...

of Rome was named in his honour; he is among the very few tennis players to have received such an honour while still living (others include Laver and

Margaret Court Margaret Court (''née'' Smith; born 16 July 1942), also known as Margaret Smith Court, is an Australian retired former world No. 1 tennis player and a Christian minister. Considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time, her 24 maj ...

). He also played a supporting role in the movie '' There Was a Castle with Forty Dogs'' in 1990.

Personal life

He had a relationship with the Italian journalist

Licia Colò Licia Colò (born July 7, 1962) is an Italian TV hostess and journalist. Biography Colò was born in Verona, Veneto. She began her television career in 1982 as either host or author of various shows for RAI, the Italian state television, and ...

, 30 years younger than him. He's an

Eastern Orthodox Christian Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or " canonical ...

Grand Slam finals

Singles (2 titles, 2 runners-up)

Doubles (1 title, 2 runners-up)

Mixed doubles (1 title)

Performance timeline

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pietrangeli, Nicola Italian male tennis players Eastern Orthodox Christians from Italy Sportspeople from Tunis International Tennis Hall of Fame inductees French Championships (tennis) champions 1933 births Living people Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's singles Grand Slam (tennis) champions in mixed doubles Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's doubles Tennis players at the 1968 Summer Olympics Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Italy Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for Italy Competitors at the 1963 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games medalists in tennis