Nadal leads tributes as tennis great Pietrangeli dies aged 92

Nicola Pietrangeli, the Italian tennis champion of the 1950s and 1960s whose records were only recently broken by Jannik Sinner - but remains the winningest Davis Cup player of all time - has died. He was 92.

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The Italian Tennis and Padel Federation announced Pietrangeli's passing on Monday, without providing a cause of death. The federation noted that Pietrangeli is the only Italian player who was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

Rafael Nadal, who was often awarded the Italian Open trophy by Pietrangeli when he won the Rome tournament a record IO 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.”

Pietrangeli was the first Italian player to win a Grand Slam trophy, triumphing at the French Open in 1959.