Pietrangeli, Panatta: “He was a friend of mine, an extraordinary personality”

Milan, Dec. 1 (LaPresse) – “Nicola was my friend, even though we clashed from time to time, but it was a game we played,” Adriano Panatta said live on Storie Italiane on Rai1 with Eleonora Daniele, remembering his friend and colleague Nicola Pietrangeli, who passed away this morning. “I want to remember him with joy, he was an extraordinary personality, beyond being an absolute champion who won practically everything there was to win in his playing era. When I was born, he was a 17-year-old playing at Tennis Parioli and was already a promising talent; then we went through a bit of a changing of the guard, him and me. We also played together, had fun, went on vacations together. Nicola and I were very close friends,” he added. He then revealed the pain Pietrangeli experienced in recent months due to the loss of his son: “What hurt me most during this last period was that I didn’t want him to suffer: he was struck terribly when Giorgino died a short time ago. The last time I called him, a few days ago, I told him ‘get out of bed, damn it.’ He told me he didn’t want to get up. But he lived a wonderful life.”