
Watching “Sinner” (his real name!) playing “The Demon” (Alex De Minaur) in the Quarterfinal of the Australian Open (Tennis), I wondered if the audience were as bemused as I was by their names. And that got me thinking about tennis and religion.
The day before I had seen 10-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic—arguably the greatest player of all time—making the sign of the cross and pointing upward when he scored one of his “miraculous” points. Commentators have noticed the Serbian Orthodox player and his wife praying during his matches. At the Paris Olympics, where a blasphemous parody of the Last Supper was included in the opening ceremonies, “the Joker” made it clear he thought this was no joke: he wore his cross outside his shirt in the finals and pointed heavenward when receiving the gold medal.
If the greatest male player of all time is a believer, so is the greatest female, Margaret Court. Raised Catholic, she later joined the Pentecostals and is now senior pastor in Perth’s Victory Life Church.
Many tennis players sport crosses round their necks and throw kisses heavenwards when they win a hard point or match. Conspicuous amongst these have been top-rankers Michael Chang, Gäel Monfils, Lorenzo Musetti, Andrey Rublev, Maria Sharapova and both runners-up in this year’s Australian Open singles, Aryna Sabalenka and Alexander Zverev.

Some, such as Andre Agassi, Andy Murray and Ash Barty were more private about their Christian faith. Wimbledon and French Open winner, Romanian Orthodox Simona Halep, takes a religious icon with her when on tour. Greek Orthodox Stefanos Tsitsipas has also spoken up for the importance of religion. And Jehovah’s Witness Serena Williams prayed before and during her games and thanked God publicly when they were over—whether she won or not.
2023 US Open winner and current World No. 3, Coco Gauff, says her Baptist faith helps her “keep grounded and remember what’s important” and, when she wins, her opening remark is “I’d like to thank my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”
Professed Catholic players amongst the world’s best have included “El Mago” Coria, Alex Corretja, Juan Martin del Potro Chris Evett, Roger Federer, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Fernando Gonzalez, “Guga” Kuerten, Jasmine Paolini and Mark Philippoussis.
Great Jewish players have included Olympic gold medallist Nicolás Massú, and Australian Open doubles champions Yoni Erlich, Andy Ram and Justin Gimelstob. Great Muslim players include the 2005 Australian Open winner Marat Safin and the Wimbledon and US Open finalist Ons Jabeur.
As Djokovic’s forced retirement in this week’s semifinal demonstrated, religious faith is no guarantee that all will go well for you. Yet what all these players have in common is the thought that both sport and religion have contributed to their athletic excellence and endurance, but also to their resilience, graciousness, humility and follow-through both on and off the court.

Del Potro regularly goes to Mass at home in Argentina and when on tour seeks accommodation near a church so he can do so. In 2013, after defeating Federer in the finals at Flushing Meadows (US Open), he presented his winning racket to Pope Francis.
His opponent, for his part, has donated tens of millions to establish schools for the underprivileged in Africa. Federer says he is grateful for his own Catholic schooling, where he was taught “the importance of compassion, humility, and gratitude… hard work, discipline, and treating others with kindness.” His faith has guided him through up and downs, giving him purpose and strength on and off the court.
Like Federer, Djokovics is committed to using his wealth and influence in service of the most needy: building schools, feeding the homeless, contributing to many charities. Theirs is an active faith, hope and love.
On winning last year’s Australian Open, Jannik Sinner was publicly congratulated by Pope Francis. “It seems that the object of tennis is to better your opponent. But in tennis, as in life, we can’t always win,” Francis pointed out. “Still, it’s an enriching challenge if played skilfully in accord with the rules.”

“Sports are not just about competing but also about relating,” the Pope said. “In the case of tennis, the conversation often becomes art.”
We will see if this year’s repeat performance by Sinner provokes some more papal remarks. But for now we can give thanks for those greats of tennis who have brought together faith and sport, competition and art, winning and charity.