Vatican City – Italian tennis star Jannik Sinner had an audience on Wednesday with the newly elected Pope Leo XIV, himself a keen tennis player, the Vatican said.
Sinner was invited to the Vatican along with his parents and a delegation from the Italian Tennis Federation.Leo joked earlier this week that he didn’t want to meet the world number one, at least not behind the net.Asked by a journalist if he would take part in a charity match, Leo appeared up for it, but cautioned: “Just don’t bring Sinner,” making a Catholic pun about the last name of the tennis star.Sinner presented the pope with one of his tennis rackets, but the pontiff declined a suggestion that they knock a ball around, staring up at the lights in the reception room. “Better not,” he said, to laughter.The pope, formerly known as US Cardinal Robert Prevost, described himself in a 2023 interview published by the website of his Augustinian religious order as “quite the amateur tennis player”.Sinner is taking part in the Italian Open tennis tournament, which is being staged a short distance from the Vatican, coming back from a three-month doping ban.He blushed when asked during a news conference on Monday about the pope’s comments and buried his head in his hands.Why do you have to put me in a difficult spot?” he said, before adding: “Obviously I heard that he played as a kid. I think it’s a good thing for us tennis players to have a pope who likes this sport that we’re playing.
