'Definitely Knows Who I Am': Gauff Reacts To New Pope Being American

Sunday, 11 May 2025 at 19:05

byErik Virostko

Tennis is in Rome at the same time as the new pope was chosen in the Vatican, and Coco Gauff, as a proud Christian, reacted to the news.

Gauff is competing at the 2025 Italian Open in Rome, where she reached the fourth round, setting up a meeting with fellow US Open champion Emma Raducanu.

During her stay in the Italian capital, a new pope was chosen in the Vatican City, which is only about a 15-minute drive away from Foro Italico, where the WTA 1000 tournament is played.

Although Gauff is a proud Christian, she is not Catholic, which means that the Papal conclave wasn't a very familiar process to her, but she had a conversation with her physio, who is Catholic, before the new pope was elected.

As an American, Gauff wondered whether there ever was an American pope, but she was told there wasn't one, and that likely there would never be one. Only a few hours after her conversation, that changed, as Robert Francis Prevost became the new pope, Pope Leo XIV.

"I didn't know much about how the whole thing happens. I was looking up some stuff since I'm here in Rome. I remember on the car ride over, my physio is Catholic. I said, 'Has there ever been an American Pope?' She was like, 'No, there probably won't ever be one.'"

"We were watching on TV. They said from U.S. I kind of like screamed. I felt like I was in the Olympics or something, like, Yay. He seems like a pretty cool guy. I was looking at his brother's interviews and stuff. I was like, 'Wow, this is pretty cool.'"

"I'm not Catholic or anything, but I wanted to try to go when we found out it was like the white smoke in the car. We saw immediately, as soon as the CNN notification came on the phone, I was a little bit closer doing the same."

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"I realized with the match the next day, it's probably not smart sprinting to go see. It's pretty cool. I'm glad to be in the same city as the historic event, and hopefully he does a great job."

Gauff was also asked about the fact that the new pope is apparently a tennis fan. She admitted that it was cool to know that he follows the sport, and she also felt proud about the fact that, since she is the American No. 1 player, Pope Leo XIV likely knows who she is.

"Yeah, I saw that on TikTok that someone says he plays tennis. I'm not going to say that I'm up there, but he probably knows who I am, if he likes tennis. Hopefully, he watches some women's tennis. If he does, he definitely knows who I am. That's pretty cool. Yeah, if not, that's cool, too."

"But it's cool that he likes tennis. I don't know, maybe Popes go to sporting events. I heard he's a White Sox fan. Maybe he'll come to a match in the future."