Nicola Pietrangeli Passes Away: Italian Tennis Legend and Davis Cup Record Holder

Nicola Pietrangeli, Italian Tennis Legend, Passes Away

The tennis world mourns the loss of Nicola Pietrangeli, an emblematic name in Italian sport during the 1950s and 1960s. Pietrangeli, whose legacy was only recently surpassed by Jannik Sinner, leaves a void in the history of tennis, but his name will endure as the player with the most victories in the Davis Cup. The Italian Tennis and Padel Federation announced Pietrangeli’s death on Monday, without specifying the cause of his death. Pietrangeli was the only Italian tennis player to be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Pietrangeli made history by being the first Italian to win a Grand Slam title, achieving the feat at the 1959 French Open. He defended his title a year later. His record of two Grand Slam singles titles for an Italian tennis player stood until Sinner conquered his second consecutive Australian Open in 2025, adding his third title. I earned $150 for the 1960 title, which covered two months’ rent for my house in Rome. Pietrangeli was also a runner-up at Roland Garros in 1961 and 1964, losing both finals to Spaniard Manuel Santana. However, in 1959, he was crowned doubles champion in Paris alongside Orlando Sirola.

In 1964, Santana and I made a bet where the loser would pay for dinner. I kept the agreement and we went out that night, 10 people including our wives, and Manolo invited (the Spanish footballer) Luisito Suárez. I spent all my tournament winnings to cover the evening.

Nicola Pietrangeli

In addition to his successes at Roland Garros, Pietrangeli reached the Wimbledon semi-finals in 1960 and the quarter-finals of the Australian Open in 1957.

An unbeatable record in the Davis Cup

In the Davis Cup, Pietrangeli holds the record for most total victories and most individual victories, with 164 matches played for Italy in 66 ties. His individual record was 78-32, and in doubles, 42-12. He was also part of the most successful doubles pair in the Davis Cup alongside Sirola, winning 34 of their 42 matches together. As a player, Pietrangeli led Italy to the Davis Cup final twice, losing both times to Australia, which had Rod Laver and Roy Emerson in its ranks. Pietrangeli finally lifted the Davis Cup trophy as captain in 1976, guiding Adriano Panatta, Corrado Barazzutti, Paolo Bertolucci and Antonio Zugarelli to the title, after defeating Chile in a context marked by Augusto Pinochet’s military dictatorship.

That was really my biggest contribution to that final. Without me, Italy would not have traveled to that final and we would not have won.

Nicola Pietrangeli

Italy didn’t win the Davis Cup again until Sinner led the Azzurri to the title in 2023 and 2024; and then Matteo Berrettini and Flavio Cobolli led Italy to a third consecutive Davis Cup, and the first at home, in Bologna last month.

The Legacy of Stadio Pietrangeli

After his successful career as a player and coach, Pietrangeli became an iconic figure for Italian tennis. He was a regular in the front row of the Foro Italico during the Italian Open, a tournament he won in 1957 and 1961, defeating Laver in the final of the latter year. In 2006, the Pallacorda court of the Foro Italico, adorned with statues and considered one of the most picturesque stadiums on the circuit, was renamed Stadio Pietrangeli. Pietrangeli himself expressed his wish that his funeral be held on the court that bears his name. Nicola Chirinsky Pietrangeli was born in Tunis, then a French colony, to an Italian father and a Russian mother.