Nicola Pietrangeli, the first true star of Italian tennis and one of the game’s great clay-court specialists, has died at the age of 92.

For generations of Italian fans, he was “the” tennis player, the man who made the sport matter in Italy long before it became fashionable, and long before today’s champions followed in his footsteps.

Pietrangeli won the French Open twice, in 1959 and 1960, and spent years among the world’s elite when rankings were compiled by journalists rather than computers. He collected 48 career titles and brought home medals from international competitions, including the Mediterranean Games and the Olympic exhibition tournament in Mexico City in 1968.

But his name is forever linked to the Davis Cup. He still holds records for matches played, singles and doubles wins, and formed one of the most successful doubles partnerships in the tournament’s history with Orlando Sirola. Ironically, the only time Italy lifted the Davis Cup trophy during his era was when he was captain, not a player, in 1976.

Inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, Pietrangeli was both admired and unapologetically himself. His most famous remark captured his personality perfectly: “If I had trained more, I might have won more. But I would have enjoyed life less.”