VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -Italian tennis star Jannik Sinner had an audience on Wednesday with the newly elected Pope Leo XIV, himself a keen tennis player, the Vatican said. Sinner was invited to the Vatican along with his parents and a delegation from the Italian Tennis Federation.

Pope Leo XIV has apparently made peace with Jannik Sinner. The top-ranked tennis player visited the new pope on Wednesday, gave him a tennis racket and offered to play, during an off day for Sinner at the Italian Open.

World number one Jannik Sinner has met Pope Leo XIV in Rome.The Italian, who has reached the quarter-finals of the Italian Open in his first tournament since serving a three-month doping ban, was invited by the Vatican to meet the newly elected Pope.