Pope welcomes Sinner to Vatican

Pope Leo XIV was gifted a tennis racket by world number one player Jannik Sinner on Wednesday. Sinner offered to volley with the pontiff, who declined saying, "we might break something."

Beyond the buzz around newly-elected Pope Leo XIV's possible course for the Catholic Church moving forward and the novelty of his being an American (native to both north and south), the pontiff is getting a lot attention for the fact that he is a sports fan.

On Monday, Leo asked a pilgrim requesting he sign a baseball, "White Sox or Cubs?" before signing his autograph — the pope, a native of Chicago's south side, is a life-long Sox fan.

On Wednesday, Pope Leo received a visit and presents from Jannik Sinner, the world's number-one ranked tennis player, who had a day off from play at the current Italian Open.

Tennis fan Pope Leo XIV

Pope Leo XIV is known to be an avid tennis player who follows the sport closely. During his Vatican visit, Sinner gifted the religious leader a racket as well as extending an invitation to hit a few balls together.

Leo declined Sinner's invitation to volley, saying with a laugh, "We'll break something. Best not to."

Sinner said it was "a good thing for us tennis players" that the new pope likes to play the sport Image: Vatican Media/Catholicpressphoto/IMAGO

Referring to the All England Club's all-white dress code, the pontiff pointed to his own cassock while holding the racket, quipping, "They would let me into Wimbledon like this."

Sinner wants no trouble

Earlier this week, the pope said he would be open to playing a charity match "as long as they don't bring Sinner," making light of the English-language meaning of the name.

Sinner was said to have responded "Are you trying to get me into trouble?" to news of the possibility of playing the pope.

The top-ranked player was accompanied Wednesday by his family and Italian Tennis Federation President Angelo Binaghi. He posed for photos with the new pontiff in front of the Davis Cup, which Sinner and Binaghi brought with.

Sinner, who has just returned from a three-month doping ban for what was judged an accidental infraction, will face Casper Ruud in a Thursday Italian Open quarterfinal match in Rome on Thursday.

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Edited by: Louis Oelofse

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