"Could I play at Wimbledon": Pope Leo XIV shares a laugh with Italy's tennis star Sinner
New Delhi: Italy's Jannik Sinner, the number one-ranked tennis star, who had an off day in the ongoing Italian Open on Wednesday, went to the Vatican City and met Pope Leo XIV.
Sinner, his parents Johann and Siglinde, his manager Alex Vittur and a delegation from the Italian Tennis Federation, including president Angelo Binaghi, were among those present during the meeting with Pope Leo XIV.
During his audience, the 23-year-old presented Pope Leo XIV, who was elected just six days ago, with one of his racquets. In a video posted by Internazionali BNL d'Italia on Instagram, Pope Leo XIV asked Sinner about his Tuesday night victory against Argentina's Francisco Cerundolo, to which the Italian replied, "Yes, we managed."
After Sinner presented his racket, Pope Leo XIV shared a laugh with Sinner. "Could I play at Wimbledon?" he asked.
Last Thursday, the Vatican conclave chose a new Pope, Robert Prevost, the first American Pope, Vatican News said. The Cardinals gathered in the Vatican's Sistine Chapel and elected 69-year-old Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost as the 267th Pope, who took the name Pope Leo XIV. He is the first American to lead the Catholic Church.
Cardinal Protodeacon Dominique Mamberti, the senior cardinal deacon appeared on the St. Peter's balcony that overlooks the St Peter's square and announced, "Habemus Papam!" - "We have a pope."
Meanwhile, Sinner will be keen on continuing his scorching form in the Italian Open when he squares off against Casper Ruud in the quarter-final clash on Thursday. He secured a spot in the last eight with a 7-6(2), 6-3 victory over Cerundolo.
"He's a very tough competitor, it's a great challenge for me. Especially now trying to get used to so many difficult situations on the court. I just tried to stay there mentally, trying to play every point. But I'm very happy because I felt like I raised my level. Game wise, I felt a little bit better. It was very heavy conditions, and it was a long day. The crowd helped me, so I'm happy to go through," Sinner said after the win, as quoted from ATP.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Times of Oman
a day ago
- Times of Oman
Roland Garros 2025: Jannik Sinner eye fourth Grand Slam title, to face Carlos Alcaraz in French Open final
Paris: World No.1 and three-time Grand Slam winner from Italy, Jannik Sinner, will face the defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in the French Open final on Sunday, which will take place at the Philippe-Chatrier in Paris. Sinner last played the 22-year-old Alcaraz in the final of the ATP Masters 1000 Rome in May this year. The Spaniard beat the Italian 7(7)-6(5), 6-1, as per the Alcaraz holds the edge in the rivalry with Sinner. The Spaniard leads 7-4 in the head-to-head and has won each of their last four encounters, including a gripping five-set semi-final win at Roland Garros in 2024. Alcaraz has also beaten the Italian twice on clay courts. The Italian's only victory against Carlos Alcaraz on clay came in the final of the 2022 Umag, an ATP 250 tennis tournament, in Croatia. Sinner won the match in straight sets. Jannik Sinner, who won the Australian Open in January, made the French Open final after a straight-sets win against Novak Djokovic in the semis. He is yet to drop a set in this edition of the French Open. Sinner defeated three-time French Open winner and 100-time tour-level titlist by 6-4, 7-5, 7-6(3), with the match featuring points earned all over the tennis court, Sinner's precision and power and his great serve. This all overwhelmed the 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic and helped the 23-year-old set up a first-ever major final between players born in the 2000s. Though the match was one-sided as reflected by the scoreline, it did have many thrills and moments of genius from the 38-year-old Djokovic, who produced some great shots. But he let slip three set points on return at 5-4 in the third set, and Sinner's relentless hard work and consistency reaped rewards. Olympic silver medallist Carlos Alcaraz, on the other hand, got a walkover against eighth seed Lorenzo Musetti of Italy in the semi-finals. A four-time Gram Slam winner, Carlos Alcaraz's last loss against Jannik Sinner came in 2023 when the Italian won the semi-finals of the Beijing ATP 500.
Times of Oman
2 days ago
- Times of Oman
Sinner sinks Djokovic to set up final clash against Alcaraz at French Open
PARIS: World No. 1 Jannik Sinner notched a 6-4, 7-5, 7-6(3) triumph against three-time champion Novak Djokovic in a heavyweight semifinal clash at the French Open on Friday, and will meet defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in the final. Djokovic, the men's record 24-time Grand Slam champion, was overwhelmed by Sinner's power and precision from the baseline and on serve on Court Philippe-Chatrier. Sinner became only the second Italian man to reach the final at Roland-Garros after Adriano Panatta, the 1976 champion. "It was such a special occasion for me, playing against Novak in the semifinal of a Grand Slam," said Sinner. "It's just amazing, and I had to step up and play the best tennis I could. I'm very happy how I handled the situation, but this shows again what a role model he is for all of us and especially for us young players." "What he is doing is incredible and I wish him only the best for the rest of the season. I think we are all very lucky to see him playing such high-level tennis, it's amazing." In the first set, Sinner performed more steadily, taking the opening set 6-4 with a break in the fifth game. Djokovic started stronger in the second, but it was Sinner who broke first for a 5-3 lead. Djokovic held serve in the ninth game and then broke Sinner's serve in the 10th game while serving for the set, leveling the score at 5-5. Sinner stayed composed and secured another break, eventually taking the second set 7-5. Both players delivered top-level tennis in the third set, which ultimately went into a tense tiebreak. Sinner proved to be more clutch in the decisive moments, winning the tiebreak 7-3. In his post-match press conference, 38-year-old Djokovic reflected on the uncertainty of his future following the loss. "This could have been the last match ever I played here, so I don't know. That's why I was a bit more emotional even in the end," said Djokovic. "If this was the farewell match of the Roland Garros for me in my career, it was a wonderful one in terms of the atmosphere and what I got from the crowd." "Do I wish to play more? Yes, I do. But will I be able to play in 12 months' time here again? I don't know. That's all I can say for the moment," he added. Earlier in the other semifinal, Alcaraz led 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-0, 2-0 against Lorenzo Musetti when the eighth-seeded Italian retired with a leg injury. Sinner, who has yet to lose a set in the tournament, is now looking to avenge his loss to Alcaraz in last year's semifinal, when he was defeated in five sets. Alcaraz has won his last four matches against Sinner, including the Italian Open final in May when Sinner returned from a three-month doping ban.
Times of Oman
02-06-2025
- Times of Oman
Sensational Fourth Overall and Gold Cup Victory for Al-Manar Racing by Team WRT's Al-Zubair, Klingmann and Tuck at Monza
MONZA (ITALY): Al-Manar Racing by Team WRT's Al-Faisal Al-Zubair, Jens Klingmann and Ben Tuck delivered another driving and strategic masterclass to finish fourth overall and first in the Gold Cup class at the second round of the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup powered by AWS at Monza late on Sunday afternoon. Despite qualifying in seventh, the trio carried out their pit stop strategy perfectly and were able to move through the field during a yellow flag-interrupted three-hour race to finish fourth overall ahead of nine other rivals in the Gold Cup category in their BMW M4 GT3 EVO. It was another proud day for Al-Zubair and the Sultanate of Oman in endurance racing. The Racing Aston Martin was a distant second overall and the Tresor Attempto Racing Audi rounded off the Gold Cup podium. A delighted Al-Zubair said: 'I'm happy to clinch the win in the Gold Cup Category. Honestly, this is a dream come true. Especially because we started the race from seventh on the grid. But the strategy from Team WRT was excellent. We had the speed throughout the weekend, but in qualifying we faced some issues, particularly in Q3. 'Fourth position in the overall classification and winning the Gold Cup category, this was fantastic. I'm very proud to raise the Omani flag high. We are aiming to achieve even more.' From a start position of seventh in the Gold Cup category, Al-Zubair held eighth until a full course yellow brought proceedings to a stop after around 20 minutes. The Garage 59 McLaren had the lead from the CSA Racing McLaren. Action resumed around the half-hour mark and Al-Zubair made up a place to take seventh shortly afterwards. The Omani maintained his composure and was soon up to sixth with the Garage 59 McLaren continuing to lead from the Racing Aston Martin. Herberth Motorsport's Porsche was sidelined after 13 laps. Al-Zubair retained sixth to another full course yellow with around 1hr 50min of the race remaining. The handover to Tuck was a good one and, when action resumed, Tuck held the lead from the Garage 59 McLaren and the Verstappen Aston. The leading six Gold Cup cars were tightly bunched but Tuck retained the lead through 48 laps with 68 minutes of the race remaining. The CSA Racing McLaren had fallen by the wayside after 36 laps. With less than an hour to run there was yet another full course yellow with Tuck still leading. Racing resumed under a green flag with 54 minutes to go and the final changeover to Klingmann was a successful one with the team retaining an advantage over the Aston Martin and the Optimum Motorsport McLaren. A seventh interruption to the race happened with 31 minutes to run and Klingmann holding the lead and a superb fourth overall. But it was a brief stoppage and the German retained his position, only for a yellow to halt the race for the eighth time with just three minutes left of the 84-lap race. Al-Manar Racing by Team WRT carried out a short unofficial test session on Friday with Al-Zubair posting a best lap of 1min 46.840sec. Free practice took place on Saturday morning for the 10-car field and the fastest lap of the session went to the Nordique Racing Mercedes in the hands of Japan's Kotaka Kazuko. Tuck's best run for the Al-Manar Racing by Team WRT operation was 1min 46.345sec and that put the BMW M4 in the middle of the group in fifth. Pre-qualifying saw the Al-Manar Racing BMW down in a subdued eighth with a best lap of 1min 46.694sec in a session won by the Racing Aston Martin. Klingmann carded a best run of 1min 46.101sec in the first of the two qualifying sessions to put the BMW in sixth of the Gold Cup runners. Tuck ran a 1min 45.826sec lap in Q2 and Al-Zubair finished his Q3 stint with a best lap of 1min 46.848sec. With the times collated from the three qualifying stints, the Al-Manar Racing by Team WRT BMW lined up on the grid in seventh with pole position falling to the Garage 59 McLaren from the CSA Racing McLaren and the Racing Aston Martin.
