Lea Pericoli, the Italian tennis star of the 1950s and 60s, has died aged 89.
Considered one of his country’s top players, he reached the Last 16 of the French Open twice and the Wimbledon tournament three times.
Pericoli, born on 22 March 1935 in Milan, later became a famous television presenter and journalist, but it was the pageant dresses decorated with feathers and fur that made him an icon.
“She was like a mother to all of us,” Angelo Binaghi, president of the Italian Tennis and Padel Federation, told local media.