Italian Tennis Federation Angelo Binaghi paid a very beautiful tribute and issued a very emotional statement on the passing of Nicola Pietrangeli, declaring the 92-year-old "the tennis in the deepest sense of the word."
On Monday morning, Italian tennis was hit with some very sad news after former two-time French Open champion Pietrangeli passed away at the age of 92 in Rome. Throughout his entire life, the former world No. 3 was closely associated with tennis in his country.
During his career, Pietrangeli was very high on representing Italy as he made a record of 164 appearances in Davis Cup matches for his country. Also, he was the first captain to guide Italy to their maiden Davis Cup triumph - it happened in 1976.
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After retiring from pro tennis and entering the International Tennis Hall of Fame, Pietrangeli also saw the Rome Open stadium being named after him. He was a regular at the Rome Open, and would often share his thoughts on the state of Italian tennis and its players.
Binaghi on Piatrangeli: Our greatest symbol... He was tennis, in the deepest sense of the world
"Today, Italian tennis loses its greatest symbol, and I lose a friend. Nicola Pietrangeli wasn't just a champion: he was the first to teach us what it meant to truly win, on and off the court. He was the starting point for everything our tennis has become. With him, we understood that we too could compete with the world, that dreaming big was no longer a gamble," Italian Tennis Federation President Binaghi told Sky Sports Italy.
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"When you talk about Nicola, you immediately think of the records, the Davis Cups, the titles and triumphs that will forever remain in our history. But the truth is that Nicola was much more. It was a way of being. With his cutting wit, his free spirit, his inexhaustible desire to live and joke, he managed to make tennis something human, real, profoundly Italian.
"Talking to him was always a pleasure and a surprise: you could leave a conversation laughing out loud or with a reflection that stayed with you for days. In my office, there is a photo that is very dear to me: me as a child, a ball boy in a Davis Cup match in Cagliari, and in front of me, Nicola Pietrangeli.
"Nicola was not only the greatest player in our history. He was tennis, in the deepest sense of the word."
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In July, Pietrangeli's family was struck by a tragedy after his 59-year-old Giorgio lost his battle with illness. The former two-time Grand Slam champion passed away just five months after the death of his son.
