About Nicola Pietrangeli
Nicola Chirinsky Pietrangeli (Italian pronunciation: [niˈkɔːla pjeˈtrandʒeli]; born Chirinsky; 11 September 1933 – 1 December 2025) was an Italian tennis player. He won two singles titles at the French Championships and is considered by many to be one of Italy's greatest tennis champions. == Early life == Nicola Chirinsky was born 11 September 1933 in Tunis, then a French colony, to Giulio Pietrangeli, also born in Tunis but of Italian parents from Abruzzo and Anna Chirinskaya (née von Yourgens), a Russian noble mother. At the time of his birth, his mother was married to a Russian count, and he only acquired the surname Pietrangeli upon her marriage to his father, who was interned as a political prisoner during the Allied invasion of Tunisia in World War II. He started playing tennis during that period, until his father was expelled in 1946 and the family settled in Rome, Italy. There, Pietrangeli, a native French and Russian speaker, learned Italian. == Career == Pietrangeli made his international debut at the 1952 Italian Open, losing in four sets to Jacques Peten. He 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.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.