Hundreds gathered to honor Nicola Pietrangeli days after the tennis great died at age 92. A public viewing of his body and a brief memorial service were held at the Pallacorda court that now bears his name. A private funeral followed later in Rome.

The statue-lined court at the Foro Italico, renamed Stadio Pietrangeli in 2006, served as the setting. Two tennis rackets and the Davis Cup Italy won in 1976 under Pietrangeli’s captaincy were placed beside the coffin, which was decorated in blue and white flowers. A large screen showed images from his career while music by Charles Aznavour played.

“My Way,” by Frank Sinatra, was played at the end of the memorial service before the coffin was moved from the court to the church for the funeral. “Everything just as he wanted, the place and the music,” said his son Marco.

Prominent figures of Italian sport attended the public ceremony, including the former and current president of the Italian national Olympic committee and the head of the Italian tennis federation. Longtime friends and former teammates were present as well: Adriano Panatta and Tonino Zugarelli, who won the Davis Cup with Pietrangeli, and other former players including Fabio Fognini, who retired earlier this year.

Prince Albert II of Monaco attended the funeral at the Chiesa della Gran Madre di Dio in Rome and offered his recollection: “I knew him for many years,” he said. “He was a splendid man. I really wanted to be here also for his family, I am very emotional. He was always there in the most important moments of my life.”

Despite the broad turnout, current Italian players were noticeably absent, with particular attention on the absence of Jannik Sinner. The memorial at the court that carries his name offered a public farewell in a place closely associated with Pietrangeli’s legacy.

“You can never lose if you give it all, what you have in your heart.” Flavio Cobolli offered that line after a match that became the emotional centerpiece of the Davis Cup Final in Bologna. The 22nd-ranked Cobolli edged Zizou Bergs 6-3, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (15) in a contest decided by a 32-point deciding tiebreak and a 98-minute third set.

“It’s a combination of really, really enjoying being out there, as well as feeling so much love for your team and for the fans that I hear, dealing with a very difficult crowd,” Bergs said after the match. “All those combinations make it a very emotional one. At least I’m really happy that I enjoyed myself out there.”

The match carried the raw stakes Davis Cup is known for. With Italy up 1-0 and many of the sport’s biggest names already on break from the season, this encounter gave two rising players an arena-sized moment. The crowd pushed the noise to its limit as the two similarly built baseliners exchanged long, intense rallies. Bergs’ backward hat and stamp-like gait drew comparisons to gritty competitors of the past.

Bergs pushed the tiebreak into extended territory, at times converting match points and at others seeing chances slip away. He led at several junctures in the breaker, only to see Cobolli rally back with retrievals, a net attack and a finishing smash. Cobolli saved seven match points; Bergs saved six. “There were so many important points,” Bergs said. “In those moments you’re going to fail, you’re going to do right things. Even if you do the right thing sometimes, doesn’t mean you’re going to get rewarded.” He added, “I was just laughing so many times on court,” he said, “realizing what crazy points we’re doing in a crazy atmosphere.”

Matteo Berrettini watched the drama with visible nerves. Cobolli and Berrettini went on to combine to sweep all six singles matches they contested in Bologna. Two days later the 23-year-old Cobolli clinched the Cup with another epic against Jaume Munar. When he celebrated in the stands by tearing his shirt, Cobolli later shrugged off suggestions he was imitating Novak Djokovic. “Today I felt like I was trying to be like Hulk,” he said with a laugh.

Nicola Pietrangeli, a defining figure in Italian tennis whose achievements in the 1950s and 1960s set national records that stood until recent years, has died at 92. The Italian Tennis and Padel Federation announced his passing without giving a cause and noted that Pietrangeli remains the only Italian inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

Pietrangeli was the first Italian to win a Grand Slam singles title, taking the French Open in 1959 and defending it in 1960. His two Grand Slam singles titles among Italian players stood until Jannik Sinner won his second straight Australian Open title in 2025. Sinner has now won four majors.

On the clay of Paris Pietrangeli was also runner-up in 1961 and 1964, losing both finals to Manuel Santana, and he won the doubles title in 1959 with Orlando Sirola. He reached the Wimbledon semifinals in 1960 and the Australian Open quarterfinals in 1957. “I won $150 for the 1960 title, which covered two months rent for my home in Rome,” Pietrangeli told the Gazzetta dello Sport in 2020.

His Davis Cup record is unmatched. Pietrangeli played 164 matches for Italy in 66 ties, compiling a 78-32 singles record and a 42-12 doubles record. He holds the Davis Cup records for most total wins and most singles wins and formed a highly successful doubles pairing with Sirola, the pair winning 34 of their 42 matches together. As a player he led Italy to the Davis Cup final twice, losing both times to Australia teams that featured Rod Laver and Roy Emerson.

He later captained Italy to the Davis Cup title in 1976, coaching Adriano Panatta, Corrado Barazzutti, Paolo Bertolucci and Antonio Zugarelli to victory over Chile amid calls not to travel. “That was really my biggest contribution for that final,” Pietrangeli said. “Without me, Italy would have not traveled to that final and we wouldn’t have won.” Italy would not win the Cup again until Sinner led the Azzurri in 2023 and 2024; Matteo Berrettini and Flavio Cobolli then helped Italy to a third straight Davis Cup title, the first on home soil, in Bologna last month.

Figures in the sport paid tribute. Rafael Nadal posted: “I just heard the sad news about the passing of an Italian and world tennis great. My sincerest condolences to his family, his son Filippo and the entire Italian tennis family. RIP Nicola.” Italian federation president Angelo Binaghi said, “Nicola Pietrangeli was not only the first to teach us what it really meant to win, on and off the court. He was the starting point for everything that our tennis (movement) has become.”

After his competitive and coaching career Pietrangeli remained a presence at the Italian Open, a tournament he won in 1957 and 1961, beating Laver in the 1961 final, and was often a fixture in the front row at the Foro Italico.