Nicola Pietrangeli

Nicola "Nicky" Pietrangeli (Italian pronunciation: [niˈkɔːla pjeˈtrandʒeli]; born 11 September 1933) is a former Italian tennis player. He won two singles titles at the French Championships and is considered by many to be Italy's greatest tennis champion.

Nicola Pietrangeli
Country (sports) Italy
ResidenceRome, Italy
Born (1933-09-11) 11 September 1933
Tunis, Tunisia
Height1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Turned pro1968 (amateur tour from 1953)
Retired1973
PlaysRight-handed (one-handed backhand)
Int. Tennis HoF1986 (member page)
Singles
Career record687-278 (71.4%) [1]
Career titles43 [2]
Highest rankingNo. 3 (1959, Lance Tingay)[3]
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian OpenQF (1957)
French OpenW (1959, 1960)
WimbledonSF (1960)
US Open3R (1955, 1965)
Doubles
Career record21–20
Grand Slam Doubles results
French OpenW (1959)
WimbledonF (1956)
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
French OpenW (1958)
Wimbledon3R (1955, 1959)
Team competitions
Davis CupF (1960Ch, 1961Ch)

Biography

Born 11 September 1933, in Tunis, Tunisia, Pietrangeli 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.[3][4]

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 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).

Grand Slam finals

Singles (2 titles, 2 runners-up)
Result Year Championship Surface Opponent Score
Win1959French ChampionshipsClay Ian Vermaak3–6, 6–3, 6–4, 6–1
Win1960French ChampionshipsClay Luis Ayala3–6, 6–3, 6–4, 4–6, 6–3
Loss1961French ChampionshipsClay Manuel Santana6–4, 1–6, 6–3, 0–6, 2–6
Loss1964French ChampionshipsClay Manuel Santana3–6, 1–6, 6–4, 5–7

Doubles (1 title, 2 runners-up)
Result Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss1955French ChampionshipsClay Orlando Sirola Vic Seixas
Tony Trabert		1–6, 6–4, 2–6, 4–6
Loss1956Wimbledon ChampionshipsGrass Orlando Sirola Lew Hoad
Ken Rosewall		5–7, 2–6, 1–6
Win1959French ChampionshipsClay Orlando Sirola Roy Emerson
Neale Fraser		6–3, 6–2, 14–12

Mixed doubles (1 title)
Result Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win1958French ChampionshipsClay Shirley Bloomer Lorraine Coghlan
Bob Howe		8–6, 6–2

Performance timeline
Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# A NH
(W) Won; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (A) absent; (NH) not held. SR=strike rate (events won/competed)
Tournament Amateur career Open career Titles / Played Career W–L Career Win%
'54'55'56'57'58'59'60'61'62'63'64'65'66'67'68'69'70'71'72'73
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A A QF A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A 0 / 1 2–1 67%
French Open 3R 3R QF 1R 4R W W F QF QF F 4R 3R 3R 1R 1R 3R 3R 3R 1R 2 / 20 58–18 79%
Wimbledon 2R QF 4R 1R 4R 1R SF 3R 3R 3R 2R 4R 1R 2R 1R 1R 1R A 3R 1R 0 / 19 30–18 63%
US Open A 3R A A A A A A 1R A 2R 3R A A A A A A A A 0 / 4 5–3 63%
Career 2 / 44 95–40 70%
gollark: Also pipes.
gollark: I'm relatively sure MSRs are basically the same but with 4x the cooling.
gollark: Or use an OC controller, which can toggle it on and off every twentieth of a second or something.
gollark: With which fuel?
gollark: Did you add *any coolers*?

See also
  • Legends of Italian sport - Walk of Fame

References
  1. Garcia, Gabriel. "Nicola Pietrangeli: Career match record". thetennisbase.com. Madrid: Tennismem SL. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
  2. Garcia, Gabriel. "Nicola Pietrangeli: Career match record". thetennisbase.com. Madrid: Tennismem SL. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
  3. United States Lawn Tennis Association (1972). Official Encyclopedia of Tennis (First Edition), p. 427.
  4. "Hard Won Major U.S. Title", The Milwaukee Sentinel, 25 December 1961.
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