Not many people know about this place in the Vatican. Will the new Pope use it?
In Rome, the conclave that elected Cardinal Robert Prevost as pope has ended. Leo XIV admitted years ago that he is a great tennis fan. There is one place in the Vatican that will allow him to continue this passion.
Already on the second day of the conclave (Thursday, May 8), the cardinals made their choice. The new pope was Robert Prevost, who took the name Leo XIV . This was the first time in history that an American sat on the throne of the Holy See.
In a September 2023 conversation with augustinianorder.org, then-Cardinal Robert Prevost revealed his passion for tennis. ” I am an amateur tennis player. Since I left Peru, I have rarely had the opportunity to play, which is why I really want to get back on the court, ” said the future popeÂ
As the Relevo website reminds us, there is one place in the Vatican where Leo XIV can fulfill his passion for sports. There is a tennis court hidden within the walls of the Holy See, and only a few pilgrims and tourists know about its existence .
The Vatican’s links with tennis date back to 1551, when Pope Julius III commissioned the construction of a pallacorda court – the forerunner of modern tennis . The sport’s greatest boom within the papal walls came in 1977, when a court was renovated in the Vatican Gardens and an internal tournament was initiated.
In 1978, the first “Friendship Tournament” was won by Gian Battista Ghislandi, and the award was presented to him by Cardinal Roberto Tucci. In the match for third place, the Swiss guard Peter Hasler defeated the Spaniard Faustin Sainz Munoz. “The guard stops the monsignor,” reported the daily “Corriere dello Sport” at the time.
In the years that followed, doubles competitions were added, a team format modeled on the Davis Cup, and big names—even Roland Garros winners—presenting awards. Although the court’s popularity waned in the late 1990s, museum workers have been trying to revive it since 2008.
The clay court is located in the corner of the walls overlooking Rome’s Viale Vaticano and Viale Leone IV streets.
“Il Messaggero” reports that the new Pope Leo XIV often played tennis as a boy. However, as he began to take on more and more responsible positions in the Augustinian order, and later also pastoral duties in the diocese, he no longer had the opportunity to play the sport regularly.
– I am a tennis enthusiast – the priest himself admitted.
The Italian press emphasized that “his backhand is impressive” . Unfortunately, as the years passed, the possibilities for tennis training became practically zero.
Interestingly, an Italian newspaper called Robert Prevost… a “tennis missionary”. Who knows, maybe his pontificate will also feature some sporting accents.
Who is the new pope?
Robert Prevost was born in Chicago in 1955. He is a member of the Augustinian Order and holds both American and Peruvian citizenship. From 1985 to 1999, he served as a missionary in Peru, where he served in various capacities, including as a seminary teacher and as a judge in an ecclesiastical court.
In 2014, he was appointed bishop of the diocese of Chiclayo in Peru. In 2023, Pope Francis appointed him prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, one of the most important institutions in the Vatican responsible for appointing bishops around the world.