Sinner and Saint: World No.1 Visits Pope Leo at the Vatican
05/14/2025 08:04 AM
The Italian gave the Pope two Head Speed racquets as a gift.
By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday May 14, 2025
A saint and a Sinner…. The new Pope and Jannik…
On Wednesday at the Vatican, Jannik Sinner and his family got a brief audience with pope Leo XIV. Turns out the Pope is a big tennis fan, who also plays, and calls himself “quite an amateur player”.
Un onore immenso incontrare Papa Leone XIV
— Jannik Sinner (@janniksin) May 14, 2025
📸 Vatican Media pic.twitter.com/HUxK79USp1
Sinner says he heard that the pope played tennis as a kid, and told reporters that it’s a good thing for tennis players to have a pope who likes the sport.
So Sinner handed off a pair of Head MP Speed tennis racquets as a gift to the Pope, which made Leo XIV joke: “Could I play Wimbledon?”
Divine intervention at the All England Club? Get the man a wild card!
Later, when Sinner pulled out a ball and suggested they have a little hit, the Pope said “We’ll break something – better not to”. Good call: probably best not to risk destroying some priceless artifact, but good try anyway, by the top Italian.
The pair shook hands and posed for photos in front of the Davis Cup, which Italy has now won in back-to-back seasons.
Exciting day for Sinner and his family…. Probably pretty fun for Pope Leo too.
