By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Thursday, Might 8, 2025
Picture credit score: Dan Kitwood/Getty
Tennis has touched the Catholic Church’s non secular chief.
Archbishop Emeritus Robert Francis Prevost made historical past as we speak as the primary Pope ever from america within the 2,000-year historical past of the Catholic Church.
The brand new Pope, who has taken the identify Pope Leo XIV, has a historical past as a faithful tennis participant and fan.
Certainly, Pope Leo, whose father was a United States Navy veteran of World Struggle II, graduated from Villanova College with a level in arithmetic again in 1977.
The brand new Pope speaks English, Spanish, Italian, French and Portuguese and grew up a Chicago Cubs fan.
As of late, Pope Leo is reportedly an enormous Carlos Alcaraz fan.
The brand new Pope is an Alcaraz fan! https://t.co/z8Aj71P7TX
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) May 8, 2025
Pope Leo XIV greeted a capability crowd that crammed each nook of St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican wishing folks everywhere in the world peace.
The 69-year-old Pope, who’s from Chicago, spent a lot of his profession as a missionary in South America. Standing on the balcony, Pope Leo spoke to the group in Italian and Spanish.
Pope Leo succeeds the late Pope Francis, an Argentinean Jesuit who was a faithful soccer fan as properly.
A few years earlier than the 133 voting cardinals within the conclave chosen him as Pope as we speak, the then archbishop emeritus Robert Prevost of Chiclayo in Peru instructed La Nacion he was “an ideal tennis fan,” who was desirous to get again out on the court docket.
“I take into account myself an ideal tennis fan,” Robert Francis Prevost, then the archbishop emeritus of Chiclayo instructed La Nacion. “Since I left Peru I had few alternatives to follow, so I’m trying ahead to returning to the courts.”
Given his new function as chief of the Catholic Church, Pope Leo, who praised his predecessor Pope Francis and vowed to proceed his work caring for the struggling, most likely received’t have an excessive amount of time for tennis. The brand new Pope holds each United States and Peruvian citizenship.
Que al nuevo Papa, Prevost… ¡le gusta el tenis! 🎾“Me considero un tenista novice. Desde que me fui de Perú he tenido un par de ocasiones de jugar. Estoy deseando volver a la pista”
Se banca desde ahora mismo 😄 pic.twitter.com/kz49jaSyG6
— José Morón (@jmgmoron) May 8, 2025
As 1000’s gathered in St. Peter’s Sq. to see and and listen to the brand new Pope, 1000’s of tennis followers had been a number of miles away watching all of the motion on Rome’s pink clay.
The brand new pope shouldn’t be: Fabio Fognini https://t.co/Qsz7PKeX8L
— TennisNow (@Tennis_Now) May 8, 2025
After all, a few of tennis prime stars—together with Roger Federer and spouse Mirka and Juan Martin del Potro—have met prior Popes. Del Potro, whose rosary was misplaced throughout one in all his worldwide journeys, requested the Pope to bless his rosary.
Right here’s a gallery of some stars previous journeys to the Vatican.
Twelve years in the past this month, del Potro traveled to the Vatican to satisfy his fellow Argentinean, Pope Francis.
As a present to His Holiness, del Potro gave Francis his Wilson racquet he used to shock reigning champion Roger Federer for the 2009 US Open title. That reward introduced an enormous smile to the Pontiff’s face.
“It was an unbelievable expertise with Pope Francis, one thing that I am going to always remember,” mentioned del Potro, who’s from Tandil, about 250 miles from Pope Francis’ residence city of Buenos Aires. “It was a dream come true for a man like me. It was an unforgettable second.
“I used to be very nervous earlier than assembly him, to have the ability to congratulate him and speak with him. He was good. Everyone is aware of he’s very humble. Immediately was a day that I am going to bear in mind for ever.”
Del Potro met the Pope at Mass on the Vatican. Fellow Argentines Carlos Berlocq and Horacio Zeballos, South Africa’s Kevin Anderson, Mexico’s Santiago Gonzalez and Croatia’s Marin Cilic additionally attended.
