Pope Leo XIV jokes that he cannot invite top-ranked tennis player to charity match

A charity tennis match at the Vatican would have a small list of guests but it wouldn't even include the top men's contestant in the world Pope Leo XIV in the past few days declared he considered himself quite the amateur tennis competitor but one notable name would be omitted in this hypothetical match During a meeting between the new American pope and international media on Monday journalists offered to play doubles or to organize a charity match CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS COMThe pope is all for it but the top-ranked competitor would be ousted through no fault of his own his last name But we can't invite Jannik Sinner the pope cracked Sinner has won three grand slams all of which have come since the Australian Open and has fleetly turned himself into the best athlete on the planet At age Sinner has skyrocketed through the world rankings and has won back-to-back grand slams But it doesn't sound like he's visiting Pope Leo XIV any time soon In the pope's defense he does have a halfway decent excuse to exclude Sinner Back in February he was given a three-month suspension by the World Anti-Doping Agency WADA after twice testing positive for a banned anabolic steroid nearly a year ago The ban came just weeks after the Italian tennis pro won his third Grand Slam title the suspension though avoided any Grand Slams It was revealed that Sinner had not intentionally used a banned substance for competitive gain Sinner tested positive for low levels of metabolite of clostebol a banned anabolic steroid that can be used for ophthalmological and dermatological use in March Eight days after the Indian Wells tournament Sinner tested positive again in an out-of-competition sample According to the ITIA s initial findings Sinner explained that he had tested positive after receiving a massage from a trainer who had used an over-the-counter spray that contained clostebol to treat a small wound after cutting his own finger Sinner's suspension was lifted on May and he is at this time playing in his home country at the Italian Open He will be on the hunt for his fourth grand slam when the French Open begins May Fox News' Paulina Dedaj and The Associated Press contributed to this record Follow Fox News Digital s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter