A Papal racquet!

Well, it had to happen did it not? The symmetry and timing were too exquisite for it not to be.

The newly elected Pope has met a Sinner and exchanged pleasantries and compared racquets. A Papal racquet if you will!

How extraordinary that they met during the tournament where Sinner was returning to the tour after serving a suspension for violating the sport’s rules about use of a prohibited substance.

New beginnings for them both!

Italy may have lost the chance for a local Pope, but their local players performed admirably at the Foro Italico. And why would they not when the eternal city played host to world leaders attending the inauguration of the Chicagoan/Peruvian Leo XIV?

Bring on the gelato! Jasmine Paolini, last year’s Wimbledon finalist won the Women’s title becoming the first Italian woman to win the title in the Open Era since Raffaella Reggi won forty years ago. Paolini won the final in straight sets against the higher ranked Coco Gauff. For an encore Paolini teamed with Sara Errani to win the Women’s Doubles title.

Sinner  won his way through to the final to face the Spanish prince of clay Carlos Alcaraz. Let’s face it, Nadal will always be King. Sinner was seeking to become the first local champion since Adriano Panatta in 1976.

A Sinner victory would have given Italy its first ever pair of champions in the same year; however, the dream script did not come to pass. Sinner, probably needing more matches, was defeated by the defending French Open champion in straight sets.

Australia’s Prime Minister, who has rediscovered his inner-city Catholicism, is also in Rome for the Pope’s inauguration.  He is demonstrating the predictable qualities of a second-term Prime Minister who has been recently re-elected with a resounding majority. First, there is the penchant for increased overseas travel, leaving his newly appointed Ministers to find ways to pay for his government’s promises. 

And is it just me, or has there also been an increase in his pontifical avuncular rhetoric? Before fully adopting the persona of “the carer of the nation”, Albanese would do well to remember that two out of three Australians did not select his party as their first choice. His is a record parliamentary representation ‘won’ on the back of a historically low primary vote; it’s a funny old electoral world.

Away from Rome there have also been new beginnings in the Biblical Middle East.

Donald Trump, fresh from settling his tariff rift with China, embarked on a charm offensive in the Middle East.  Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE were his main ports of call where he has rekindled and inaugurated new foreign friendships.

Just as well. Trump seems to be exhausting old alliances rather quickly.  His disapproval of Europe continues to grow, recently describing the Chinese government as far better to deal with than the European Union.

With new friendships, come tokens of affection. Would any other American President have considered accepting the gift of a Qatar Air aircraft to become the new Air Force One? Would most other Presidents have considered that there is no such thing as a “free aircraft”? Not our Donald! Quoting the advice of America golfing legend Sam Snead, Trump said accepting the gift of the aircraft was a reminder “that when you are offered a free putt, take it.”

In the blink of his golf swing, Trump has also reshaped American foreign policy in Syria. Meeting the present Syrian leader, interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa- a man for whom the American government was offering a $10 million award for his arrest last year- President Trump announced the lifting of all sanctions against the former rogue state. He wished the interim President well and said that he hoped that Syria “could build something beautiful, like Saudi Arabia.”

You can take the property developer huckster out of New York and place him in the White House, but you cannot take the property developer huckster out of the boy.

First, it was Gaza that was to be the next great development opportunity. Now it is Syria. One wonders what aspects of Saudi Arabia Trump is keen to see Syria emulate.  The philosophical foundations and democratic principles of a state seem secondary to “getting a deal done” and the prospect of bricks and mortar emerging from the rubble of a civil war.

Once again, the speed and extent of foreign policy development and change under Trump is like nothing ever seen. Much like the tornados that in recent days have wrought havoc in many American states.

And another year gallops by! Today the qualifying rounds for the French Open commence. The finals will be held on the weekend of 7-8 June when many Australian tennis fans will be able to utilise the King’s Birthday Long Weekend to watch the finals in the wee hours. The tournament’s seedings would see Sinner and Alcaraz contesting the final in a reprise of Rome. Sabalenka and Gauff are seeded to contest the Women’s final.  As the newly enthroned Pope reminds us, it is a permanently imperfect world in which all sinners and tennis players strive to be the best they can. Roll on Roland Garros!