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PARIS (AP) \u2014 When Pope Leo XIV was elected last year and it emerged that he was a tennis player<\/a>, his love of the sport was quickly celebrated during an audience with top-ranked Jannik Sinner<\/a>.<\/p>\n In the ensuing months, Leo has tried to set aside time in his busy schedule to play the sport every week as part of his Augustinian devotion<\/a> to physical activity and spirituality<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Rule of St. Augustine, an ancient guide for religious life, highlights the value of good habits.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s trying to keep some regularity to his routine that comes from the Rule,\u201d said the Rev. Rob Hagan, Prior of the Augustinian Province of St. Thomas of Villanova and team chaplain for the men\u2019s basketball and football teams at Villanova University \u2014 the pope\u2019s alma mater in Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n Leo\u2019s devotion to St. Augustine was evident when he made a pilgrimage during his Africa trip in April to the archaeological ruins in Algeria where the influential 5th century theologian and philosopher lived and died and wrote some of the most important works in Western thought.<\/p>\n The pope “highlights a very underappreciated Augustinian value \u2014 especially in this noisy world \u2014 and that is to develop your interior life,\u201d Hagan added in an interview with The Associated Press.<\/p>\n Leo likes to spend Mondays and Tuesdays at the papal retreat in Castel Gandolfo in the hills outside Rome \u2014 where he plays tennis with his secretary, Monsignor Edgard Iv\u00e1n Rimaycuna Inga, and goes swimming and horseback riding, too.<\/p>\n Before becoming pope, then-Cardinal Robert Prevost talked about his tennis skills in an interview with the Augustinian Order<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI consider myself quite the amateur tennis player,\u201d he said in the 2023 interview after taking over the Vatican\u2019s powerful Dicastery for Bishops following years as a missionary in Peru.<\/p>\n \u201cSince leaving Peru I have had few occasions to practice so I am looking forward to getting back on the court,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n And on Tuesday, Leo released a video message to promote the values of sports as an instrument of peace and dialogue between cultures and nations \u2014 and also for \u201cpersonal improvement,\u201d according to the Vatican.<\/p>\n \u201cIn life, as in the game, no one is saved alone,\u201d Leo said. \u201cWe need others to grow, to learn respect, to overcome our limits, and to celebrate together the victories we achieve. We ask that sport may always be a school of fraternity, not of empty rivalry, a space of encounter, not exclusion.\u201d<\/p>\n Marin Cilic, a Croatian player who won the 2014 U.S. Open, said it was \u201camazing to hear that Pope Leo loves tennis.”<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a beautiful game. You enjoy it especially when you are playing without pressure of time, without pressure of tournaments,\u201d Cilic, who comes from the Bosnian pilgrimage town of Medjugorje, said in an interview ahead of the French Open<\/a>.<\/p>\n A mental game<\/p>\n Even without the pressure of a tournament, tennis is a very mental game<\/a>. Staying focused and avoiding unforced errors is one of the keys to being successful.<\/p>\n \u201cIf your opponent is going to beat you, that\u2019s fine. But don\u2019t beat yourself \u2014 you know, the double-faults, the smash into the net. The play that really had nothing to do with your opponent but had to do with you,\u201d Hagan said. \u201cThat does take a certain mental discipline, an ability to create good habits.”<\/p>\n Tennis also is a full-body sport that requires a high level of hand-eye coordination, cardiovascular exertion and stamina. And there’s a social aspect.<\/p>\n It\u2019s the perfect preparation to enable the 70-year-old Leo to carry out his day job of presiding over prayer services to thousands of faithful, constant greetings in public and private audiences, and draining papal trips around the globe.<\/p>\n In April, Leo traveled more than 17,700 kilometers (about 11,000 miles) on 18 flights for an 11-day tour of Africa.<\/p>\n \u201cJust look at his schedule. Look at the pace that he is keeping,\u201d Hagan said. \u201cHe can sing the mass parts because he has a lung capacity. Hear him because he has a certain strength in his voice. It\u2019s something that they don\u2019t teach you in the seminary: To be a priest, to be a spiritual or really any leader for that matter, it is a physically demanding job.”<\/p>\n Before becoming pope, he would also work out at the Vatican-area Omega gym<\/a> two to three times a week, with hourlong sessions focusing especially on posture and cardiovascular health, according to his personal trainer at the time. Prevost\u2019s workouts, described as suitable for a man in his 50s, would last up to an hour and focus especially on the treadmill and exercise bike, trainer Valerio Masella told the AP last year<\/a>.<\/p>\n Augustinian values<\/p>\n Hagan noted that because of Leo, \u201cpeople are discovering who St. Augustine is. People are discovering who the Augustinians are.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd people are discovering and hopefully applying these Augustinian values. We don\u2019t have a monopoly on these values, but certainly Augustine and now Leo are putting them up on a platform that people can see,\u201d added Hagan, who has preached Augustinian values to Villanova teams for more than two decades \u2014 including two national championship basketball teams.<\/p>\n \u201cIt doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re going to win every game,” he said. “It doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re going to win every tennis match. But what we\u2019re trying to be is the best version of ourselves \u2014 mind, body, soul and spirit. St. Augustine says, \u2018Do not be content with what you are if you want to become what you are not yet. For where you\u2019ve grown pleased with yourself, there you shall remain.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n Associated Press writer Nicole Winfield in Vatican City contributed to this report.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n AP tennis: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/tennis<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n