He won two singles titles at the French Championships and is considered by many to be one of Italy's greatest tennis champions.

[3] Nicola Chirinsky Pietrangeli was born 11 September 1933, in Tunis, then a French colony, to a father also born in Tunis but of Italian parents from Abruzzo and Campania, and to a Russian mother whose father was Danish.

Pietrangeli made his international debut at the 1952 Italian Open, losing in fours sets to Jacques Peten.

[4] 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.

Both finals were played on grass courts in Australia, and the Italians were not able to overcome the strong Australian team which included Laver, Roy Emerson and Neale Fraser.