Pope Leo XIV is a tennis player. Stefanos Tsitsipas would be happy to hit some balls with him - NBC Sports
It was fitting that when Pope Leo XIV was elected, the Italian Open tennis tournament was being played just up the road from the Vatican.
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Pope Leo XIV is a tennis player. Stefanos Tsitsipas would be happy to hit some balls with him
By
Associated Press,
By
Associated Press
Published May 9, 2025 12:21 PM
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ROME — It was fitting that when Pope Leo XIV was elected, the Italian Open tennis tournament was being played just up the road from the Vatican.
Because tennis is the sport that the first American pope likes to play.
“I consider myself quite the amateur tennis player,” Leo, the Chicago-born Augustinian missionary Robert Prevost, said in a 2023 interview with the Augustinian Order after taking over the Vatican’s powerful Dicastery for Bishops following years as a missionary in Peru.
“Since leaving Peru I have had few occasions to practice so I am looking forward to getting back on the court,” Leo added. “Not that this new job has left me much free time for it so far.”
While the Mediterranean climate in Rome makes tennis a year-long outdoor sport and there are courts all over the capital, Leo will likely have even less time to play now that he’s the pope.
Rating: 5