VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV has made peace with Jannik Sinner.
The top-ranked tennis player visited the new pope on Wednesday, gave him a tennis racket and offered to play, during an off day for Sinner at the Italian Open.
Leo, the first American pope, is an avid tennis player and fan and had said earlier this week that he would be up for a charity match when it was suggested by a journalist.
But at the time, Leo joked “we can’t invite Sinner,” an apparent reference to the English meaning of Sinner’s last name.
By Wednesday, all seemed forgotten.
“It’s an honor,” Sinner said in Italian as he and his parents arrived in a reception room of the Vatican’s auditorium. Holding one of his rackets and giving Leo another and a ball, Sinner suggested a quick volley. But the pope looked at the antiques around and said, “Better not.”
Leo, a 69-year-old from Chicago, then appeared to joke about his white cassock and its appropriateness for Wimbledon, noting the All England Club’s all-white clothing rule.
He asked how the Italian Open was going. “Now I’m in the game,” Sinner said. “At the beginning of the tournament, it was a bit difficult.”