Fabio Fognini gets emotional for Nicola Pietrangeli: "Safe journey, legend"

There are many reactions from the tennis world and beyond to the death of Nicola Pietrangeli, who passed away this morning at the age of 92. Among them is that of Fabio Fognini, who relied on his social channels to remember one of the icons of Italian tennis. The Ligurian, who recently hung up his racket, posted a photo on his Instagram account showing him alongside Pietrangeli during the Monte Carlo Masters 1000 awards ceremony. In that edition Fognini triumphed in the final getting the better of Dusan Lajovic after his feat against Rafael Nadal in the semifinals.

“Dear Nick, a huge piece of our history goes away – wrote the Taggiasque tennis player -This photo in Monte Carlo is worth everything to me: your example, your irony, your light. You taught everyone what it means to really win. Bon voyage, legend”. Born in Tunis in 1933, Pietrangeli won Roland Garros in singles in 1959 and 1960, writing the history of Belpaese tennis. Also in the Paris tournament he reached the final on two other occasions, in 1958 and 1961, and won the doubles tournament in 1959 paired with Orlando Sirola. World No. 3 in 1959 and 1960, he was a specialist and great dominator on clay and became the icon of Italian tennis in the world, prompting many youngsters to approach this splendid sport to try to emulate his exploits.

The pride of his career was the Davis Cup, where he was an absolute protagonist: he holds the world record for matches played and won, with 164 total appearances and 120 victories. He never managed to win the salad bowl as a player but reached the final twice in 1960 and 1961. He then won it as a non-player captain in 1976. He won a total of 55 career tournaments between singles and doubles, and also won the bronze medal in men’s singles at the men’s tennis exhibition tournament at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City. He’s also the only Italian tennis player inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame (in 1986).

In recent years, he had often commented on Jannik Sinner&#8217s accomplishments, acknowledging his talent but not sparing a few barbs, as was always his style: “You have to stop thinking I&#8217m a rosy guy because Jannik has become a champion. I am happy and proud to see the’Italy of tennis dominating the world” he had said in one of his last interviews with Gazzetta dello Sport. On the duel between Sinner and Alcaraz he had expressed himself this way: “Jannik is very strong, unmatched… Alcaraz is a crazy horse, he does everything. He makes mistakes, then he makes phenomenal points, you never know what to expect. Ours is so strong, though, that in all matches he could leave leaving his rivals a few 15s ahead. He would still win”.