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

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

player. He won two singles titles at the French Championships and is considered by many to be one of Italy's greatest tennis champions.

Biography

Nicola Chirinsky Pietrangeli was born 11 September 1933, in

Tunis Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...

, then a French colony, to a father also born in Tunis but of Italian parents from

Abruzzo Abruzzo (, ; ; , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; ), historically also known as Abruzzi, is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy with an area of 10,763 square km (4,156 sq mi) and a population of 1.3 million. It is divided into four ...

and

Campania Campania is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy located in Southern Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian Peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islan ...

, and to a Russian mother whose father was Danish. Pietrangeli made his international debut at the 1952 Italian Open, 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), and the mixed doubles in 1958. At Wimbledon, Pietrangeli was a single semifinalist in 1960, when he lost to

Rod Laver Rodney George Laver (born 9 August 1938) is an Australian former professional tennis player. Laver was ranked as the World number 1 ranked male tennis players, world number 1 professional player indisputably for five years from 1965 to 1969, ...

in 5 sets. He won the Italian Open 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 British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' 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 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 and Neale Fraser. 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 The International Tennis Hall of Fame is located in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. It honors both players and other contributors to the sport of tennis. The complex, the former Newport Casino, includes a museum, 13 grass tennis courts, an ...

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 Benito Mussolini, Mussolini's Forum (Roman), Forum) under the design of Enrico Del Debbio and, lat ...

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 former world number 1 tennis player and a Christian minister. Her 24 women's singles major titles and total of 64 major titles (includi ...

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

Personal life

Pietrangeli had a relationship with the Italian journalist Licia Colò, 28 years younger than him. He's an Eastern Orthodox Christian.

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 Italian people of Danish descent Italian people of Russian descent Eastern Orthodox Christians from Italy Tennis players 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 20th-century Italian sportsmen