Pope Francis Congratulates Italy After Tennis Player Jannik Sinner Wins Australian Open 

The image of Italy's Jannik Sinner is projected onto the Mole Antonelliana after he won the Australian Open tennis tournament a day earlier, in Turin, Italy, 29 January 2024. (EPA)
The image of Italy's Jannik Sinner is projected onto the Mole Antonelliana after he won the Australian Open tennis tournament a day earlier, in Turin, Italy, 29 January 2024. (EPA)
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Pope Francis Congratulates Italy After Tennis Player Jannik Sinner Wins Australian Open 

The image of Italy's Jannik Sinner is projected onto the Mole Antonelliana after he won the Australian Open tennis tournament a day earlier, in Turin, Italy, 29 January 2024. (EPA)
The image of Italy's Jannik Sinner is projected onto the Mole Antonelliana after he won the Australian Open tennis tournament a day earlier, in Turin, Italy, 29 January 2024. (EPA)

Pope Francis congratulated Italy on Monday after tennis player Jannik Sinner became the country's first man to win a Grand Slam singles title in nearly a half century.

Sinner won the Australian Open title on Sunday and Francis made the acknowledgement during an audience with the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona.

“Today we have to congratulate the Italians because yesterday they won in Australia, so we congratulate them, too,” the pope said.

Francis noted that since tennis is an individual sport or played as doubles, “it would seem that the objective of the game is to be better than the opponent."

“However, looking at the history of your club you can see that, in reality, since its English origin, it is an expression of the openness of the founders to the good that can come from abroad and a dialogue with other cultures.”

The Barcelona club was celebrating its 125th anniversary.

“In tennis, as in life, we can’t always win,” Francis added. “But it’s an enriching challenge if it is played in an educated manner according to the rules. ... Sports are not just about competing but also relations. And in the case of tennis, it’s a dialogue that often becomes artistic.”

In November, Sinner also led Italy to its first Davis Cup title since 1976. Sinner and the rest of Italy’s winning Davis Cup team are due to be honored by Italian President Sergio Mattarella on Thursday.

The last Italian man to win a Grand Slam singles title was Adriano Panatta in 1976.

While Sinner remains No. 4 in the rankings, Panatta said he's shown over the past four months that he deserves to be No. 1.

“He's an exceptional kid and one of the best export products we have,” Panatta told Italian radio. “He will surely win many Slams. He's got a mix of great skill, great desire and great character. Plus, he knows how to handle himself in difficult moments. I've rarely seen a player like that.”

Sinner rallied from two sets down to beat Daniil Medvedev in Sunday's final.



All Eyes on Tsunoda at Japan GP After Ruthless Red Bull Move 

Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda of Japan smiles during a press conference in Tokyo, ahead of the Japanese Formula 1 Grand Prix, Wednesday, April 2, 2025.(Kyodo News via AP)
Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda of Japan smiles during a press conference in Tokyo, ahead of the Japanese Formula 1 Grand Prix, Wednesday, April 2, 2025.(Kyodo News via AP)
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All Eyes on Tsunoda at Japan GP After Ruthless Red Bull Move 

Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda of Japan smiles during a press conference in Tokyo, ahead of the Japanese Formula 1 Grand Prix, Wednesday, April 2, 2025.(Kyodo News via AP)
Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda of Japan smiles during a press conference in Tokyo, ahead of the Japanese Formula 1 Grand Prix, Wednesday, April 2, 2025.(Kyodo News via AP)

Yuki Tsunoda will be center of attention at his home Japanese Grand Prix this weekend after joining Max Verstappen at a Red Bull team desperate to reel in McLaren following their ominous start to the season.

Tsunoda was already a hero at Suzuka but his sudden promotion at the expense of Liam Lawson puts him under a whole new level of scrutiny as partner to the four-time world champion Verstappen.

Red Bull axed Lawson last week after the New Zealander's disastrous start to his debut season, which saw him fail to score any points in the first two race weekends.

The 24-year-old Tsunoda steps up from sister team RB, with Lawson moving the other way to the team he drove for last season.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has told the Japanese driver to get as "close as possible" to Verstappen, said Tsunoda, whose highest finish at a race is fourth in 2021 at Abu Dhabi for RB, then called AlphaTauri.

"In the end Red Bull Racing are focused on Max scoring a drivers' championship," Tsunoda told the BBC.

"He also promised me, in some situations, that if I'm able to be in front of Max that he wouldn't necessarily ask me to swap positions and make Max win."

Tsunoda said he will be happy if he can finish in the top 10 and score points on his Red Bull debut.

Now in his fifth Formula One season, he has shown pace this season.

He was 12th in the season-opener at Melbourne then picked up three points for coming sixth in the Shanghai Saturday sprint.

He only finished out of the points in the China main race because of RB's flawed two-stop pit strategy.

Red Bull's cars will have a special white livery at Suzuka in tribute to their partner Honda's maiden victory in Formula One, in Mexico in 1965.

Verstappen is second in the drivers' standings but Horner needs his ruthless driver change to kick-start Red Bull's constructors' championship campaign after ceding early ground to McLaren.

- Suzuka specialist Verstappen -

Australia's Oscar Piastri led teammate Lando Norris to a one-two in Shanghai, after the Briton took the chequered flag in Melbourne.

"Apart from Ferrari I don't think there's another team that has two drivers that push each other anywhere near as much," said Norris, who leads the drivers' championship on 44 points.

"For us, that's a huge advantage."

Norris is 12 ahead of Verstappen with Mercedes' George Russell third on 35 and Piastri on 34.

Verstappen has yet to win this season -- he was second in Melbourne, fourth in the Chinese GP and third in the Shanghai sprint.

But the Dutchman has won in Japan for the last three years in a row, clinching his second world championship there in 2022, and has spoken frequently of his love for the "old school" Suzuka circuit.

He romped home 12.5sec clear of Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez last season.

"Whenever I needed to go faster I could, whenever I needed to look after my tires I could," said Verstappen. "That's always a nice feeling."

Ferrari will be looking to get their season into gear in Japan after a calamitous outing in China two weeks ago.

The Italian team started the weekend on a high when Lewis Hamilton controlled the sprint from pole for his first win in Scuderia red.

But their joy turned to despair when the seven-time world champion and teammate Charles Leclerc were both disqualified from the main race for technical infringements.

Hamilton's former team Mercedes have made a solid start with a pair of third-placed finishes from Russell.

Teenage rookie Kimi Antonelli has also shown early promise, finishing fourth and sixth in his first two grands prix.