From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Italian tennis player
Nicola "Nicky" Pietrangeli
(
Italian pronunciation:
[ni?k?ːla
pje?trand?eli]
; born 11 September 1933) is an Italian former
tennis
player. He won two singles titles at the
French Championships
and is considered by many to be one of Italy's greatest tennis champion.
[3]
Biography
[
edit
]
Nicola Chirinsky Pietrangeli was born 11 September 1933, in
Tunis
, then a French colony, to a father also born in Tunis but of Italian parents, 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
.
[4]
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
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
in 1959 and 1960 and also by Ned Potter in 1961.
[2]
[5]
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
.
[6]
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.
[7]
Pietrangeli was inducted in the
International Tennis Hall of Fame
in 1986. On his 73rd birthday, the
old tennis stadium
in
Foro Italico
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
). He also played a supporting role in the movie
There Was a Castle with Forty Dogs
in 1990.
Personal life
[
edit
]
He had a relationship with the Italian journalist
Licia Colo
, 30 years younger than him.
[8]
He's an
Eastern Orthodox Christian
.
[9]
Grand Slam finals
[
edit
]
Singles (2 titles, 2 runners-up)
[
edit
]
Result
|
Year
|
Championship
|
Surface
|
Opponent
|
Score
|
Win
|
1959
|
French Championships
|
Clay
|
Ian Vermaak
|
3?6, 6?3, 6?4, 6?1
|
Win
|
1960
|
French Championships
|
Clay
|
Luis Ayala
|
3?6, 6?3, 6?4, 4?6, 6?3
|
Loss
|
1961
|
French Championships
|
Clay
|
Manuel Santana
|
6?4, 1?6, 6?3, 0?6, 2?6
|
Loss
|
1964
|
French Championships
|
Clay
|
Manuel Santana
|
3?6, 1?6, 6?4, 5?7
|
Doubles (1 title, 2 runners-up)
[
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]
Mixed doubles (1 title)
[
edit
]
Performance timeline
[
edit
]
Key
W
|
F
|
SF
|
QF
|
#R
|
RR
|
Q#
|
DNQ
|
A
|
NH
|
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W?L) win?loss record.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Garcia, Gabriel.
"Nicola Pietrangeli: Career match record"
.
thetennisbase.com
. Madrid: Tennismem SL
. Retrieved
7 November
2017
.
- ^
a
b
United States Lawn Tennis Association (1972).
Official Encyclopedia of Tennis
(First Edition), p. 427.
- ^
"Le leggende del tennis italiano Panatta e Pietrangeli ospiti a "Che tempo che fa"
"
.
redcarpet.group
(in Italian). 13 February 2017
. Retrieved
8 September
2021
.
- ^
Baccini, Giancarlo; Bottazzi, Luca; Carotenuto, Angelo; Castaldo, Dario; Marianantoni, Luca; Martucci, Vincenzo; Mastroluca, Alessandro; Perrone, Roberto; Valesio, Piero (2020).
Gladiatori della terra rossa: Roma e il grande tennis: storia degli internazionali d'Italia
(in Italian). Preface by Nicola Pietrangeli. Florence?Milan: Giunti. p. 10.
ISBN
978-88-09-90708-9
. Retrieved
9 November
2021
.
Fui sorteggiato con un belga, Jacques Peten. Aveva 40 anni ed ero sicuro di vincere. Persi in 4 set, una batosta che non ho mai dimenticato.
- ^
"Hard Won Major U.S. Title"
,
The Milwaukee Sentinel
, 25 December 1961.
- ^
"Nicola Pietrangeli, re di Francia nel 1959"
.
tenniscircus.com
(in Italian). 20 May 2016
. Retrieved
8 September
2021
.
- ^
"LA FOTO-STORY DI PIETRANGELI, L'AZZURRO DELLE FINALI DAVIS"
.
supertennis.tv
(in Italian). 23 December 2019
. Retrieved
8 September
2021
.
- ^
"Licia Colo, parla l'ex fidanzato: "Non so ancora perche ci siamo lasciati"
"
.
rumors.it
(in Italian). 7 September 2021
. Retrieved
8 September
2021
.
- ^
Giordano, Lucio (8 July 2022). "Su Dio sono pieno di dubbi e mi vergogno di invocarLo solo quando ho bisogno".
Dipiu
(in Italian). No. 27. pp. 86?89.
External links
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