On the occasion of the Royal Tennis Club Barcelona's visit to the Vatican for its 125th anniversary, Pope Francis took advantage of the occasion to send a congratulatory message to
Jannik Sinner
who became the first Italian champion of the Australian Open.
During the speech the Pope stated:
“Congratulations to Italy and Sinner for the victory.
Life lessons can also be extracted from tennis
. ”
Francisco is not only a soccer fan and a fan of San Lorenzo, but he enjoys sports in general.
Italian Jannik Sinner poses with the trophy that accredits him as winner of the Australian Open, the Norman Brookes Cup, during a pose with the press this Monday in Melbourne, Australia.
EFE/ James Ross
In addition, he highlighted some qualities and contributions of tennis to society.
“It would seem that the challenge between players has to do above all with the desire to prevail over the opponent, but in reality, since its English origin, it is an expression of the openness of the founders to the good that can come from outside and to dialogue with other cultures
,” he noted.
He was also emphatic in his reflection on fair play:
"How ugly and sterile is the victory that is obtained by cheating and deceiving others!"
.
It is not the first time that Pope Francis had a reference to tennis, since in 2013 he received
Juan Martín Del Potro
and in 2015 the authorities of the Italian Federation of this sport.