Giorgio Pietrangeli, a pioneer of Italian surfing in the 1980s, died in Rome at 59 after a long illness, the Federazione Italiana Tennis e Padel said on Friday. Pietrangeli represented Italy at the 1988 World Surfing Championships in Puerto Rico, competed at European events in Portugal and Forte dei Marmi, and won the 1989 national title in Viareggio. His father, 91-year-old tennis great Nicola Pietrangeli—winner of the 1959 and 1960 French Open singles titles—learned of his son’s death while undergoing tests at Rome’s Policlinico Gemelli, where he has been hospitalised for several days. The former Davis Cup captain had hip surgery at the same hospital earlier this year after a fall. In a statement of condolence, FITP president Angelo Binaghi said the Italian tennis community "stands close to the Pietrangeli family in this moment of immense pain." Giorgio is survived by his wife Carola, daughter Nicole, and brothers Marco and Filippo.