A long life as a novel, one that few can boast. It could be the epigraph for Nicola Pietrangeli, who passed away in these hours, at the beautiful age of 92. A full existence, which lacked nothing, not even a tragic tail. Pietrangeli survived Giorgio, one of his three children, by a few months. A pain that, reading the few interviews he had given since last July, had shocked and marked him.

A unique bio

Thus passes away one of the greatest athletes in Italian sport, capable of winning two Roland Garros, until recently the only Grand Slam tournament that, as Italians, we could afford. This was before the advent of the Jannik Sinner phenomenon, which is precisely missing this seal, the first truly great objective of 2026.

A unique biography that of Pietrangeli. Born in Tunis on 11 September 1933, he won 67 career titles, with the gems of the two Parisian slams and the legendary Davis Cup of 1976 won as a non-playing captain. The slams came in ’59 and ’60. He was the third best player in the world, in an era in which the rankings were made manually, and not with today’s ATP scores. Simply a group of journalists sat there to compile who were, at a given moment, the best players in the world. The methods of the past.

The first Italian tennis star

Pietrangeli was a champion on the pitch and a star off it, when stars were the prerogative of cinema and the jet set. Before him and against his will, only Fausto Coppi had carved out that space for himself, thanks to a scandalous love: the “very champion” of Castellania, in bigoted post-war Italy, had fallen in love with an already married woman. David Beckham had yet to be born and Pietrangeli was already knowingly filling the pages of crime news, fashion and advertising. A few days before his farewell, that of the footballer Lorenzo Buffon, 95 years old, who in turn had contributed so much to the gossip columns, due to his relationship with Edy Campagnoli, Mike Bongiorno’s valet. Even seventy years ago, the media attention of Italians favored private life, even before the athletic exploits of those who wield the racket. It was like this and perhaps it will always be like this, as Matteo Berrettini knows well.

Pietrangeli was a bit imprisoned in the character, but he never regretted it: aristocratic, cosmopolitan, man of the world, he loved being at the center of the scene, he loved the good life and beautiful women. Things that didn’t displease even his younger friend-rival, Adriano Panatta, the custodian’s son, with popular origins and a hair more in line with the spirit of the time, that of the Seventies of the unforgettable adventures of the Davis Cup.

Reduced to a living “meme”.

Perhaps in the case of Pietrangeli, in recent years, it has been a bit exaggerated. One of the greatest champions of Italian sport has been reduced to a living “meme”. An elderly counterpart to the young Sinner, the spokesperson of the category “in our time… we jumped over ditches for the long haul”. Many, both on social media and in the press, have hyped this transgenerational challenge out of proportion. A minute after the victories of the South Tyrolean, the thoughts ran to what the “old glory” of Italian tennis would have said. Would he have minimized the feat this time too? Several marched on it. Sinner, more cunning than others, fortunately never lent his side to the game; other athletes, more impulsive, would have participated in the skirmishes at a distance, with more perfidious declarations.

A career that deserves respect

Now the career and life of Pietrangeli, the “tsar” of Italian tennis, deserve more respect. And to be observed from above, from a point of view that brings proportions to goals and jokes. Let’s remember him for what he was on and off the pitch, turning a blind eye to the controversy with Sinner, of which little or nothing will remain. Marino Bartoletti has already put his hands forward: «I hope that this is the moment of pain, respect and gratitude», that is, that this little theater is placed in the attic. «I just heard the sad news of the death of a great Italian and world tennis player». Rafa Nadal wrote it on his social media, in Italian. And who knows if, while he was typing on the keyboard, the idea did not cross his mind that one day he too would become an old champion no longer in step with the times, but still worthy of being respected by everyone.