Mar 5
Tennis' Only Out Male Player Got a 'Buzz,' Found 'Strength' in Authenticity
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 3 MIN.
João Lucas Reis da Silva is the only gay male player in pro tennis – and he's finding that it's not lonely at all. Rather, the love he's received from fans worldwide has given him a "buzz" that seems to be lifting his game.
CNN reported that almost as soon as Reis da Silva casually posted a birthday message to his partner – a post he made not with the intention of coming out, though he realized after the fact that's what he had done – he was inundated with messages of support and gratitude.
"happy birthday – happy life – I love you so much," Reis da Silva movingly captioned a sweet photo of himself and Guilherme Sampaio Ricardo. That image was part of a post that also showed the two in an elevator, posed shirtless with a dramatic mountain rising behind them, in a car, and at a Chinese restaurant with red lanterns all around them.
Not long after posting the birthday greeting, Reis da Silva "played in the Procopio Cup," CNN added, and found that the happy well-wishes he was getting from around the world "'gave me strength' as he stepped onto the court."
It's not an unusual report from queer athletes who brave an exit from the closet. No longer burdened by fear and secrecy, but rather buoyed by the joy and relief of authenticity, they're free to focus their mental and emotional energy on sports – and the results argue that it's a recipe for success.
As CNN relayed, "Reis da Silva felt rejuvenated as he surged to victory at the Procopio Cup in December, ending 2024 on a high."
Moreover, the outlet added, "For the sport of tennis, Reis da Silva's seemingly innocuous Instagram post was groundbreaking, widely reported to make him the first active male player to come out as gay."
"Several former players, including Americans Brian Vahaly and Bobby Blair, have come out after their careers ended," CNN said, "but gay role models have by and large been curiously absent from men's tennis."
The writeup noted, as other reports have, that the situation is different in women's tennis, where "some of the biggest icons of the women's game – Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova, for example – are high-profile members of the LGBTQ community, while current world No. 12 Daria Kasatkina came out in 2022."
Reis da Silva theorized that the myths around masculinity make queer women more acceptable to some than queer men. CNN relayed that the 24-year-old, speaking on the Fantastic Tennis Podcast, opined that "Because of the stereotypes that the man has to be masculine and this and that, it's stopped a lot of guys from coming out."
With one recent poll suggesting that as many as one in 10 human beings might be LGBTQ+, the numbers make it virtually certain that hundreds of gay men must be playing pro tennis, and thousands of queer athletes populate the arena of sports in general. More and more top-flight athletes have been decisively kicking down the closet door, from the NFL's Carl Nassib to Australian soccer star Josh Cavallo, and from gold medal-winning British Olympic diver Tom Daley to Matthew Mitcham, the American who broke ground as the first out Olympic gold medalist.
Like any athlete of any orientation, Reis da Silva is keeping his focus on rising as high in the game as his talent and hard work can take him.
"I wake up tomorrow at 8 a.m. and go to the court and try to be my best player and the best person," the tennis pro, currently ranked at number 423 in the world, told CNN. "If people look at me and be inspired with what I did and with who I am, I would love to know and I love to see it. But I really don't want to keep that [as] my responsibility."
"My responsibility, for me, is to do the best job I can do on court. That's what I'm seeking, that's what I'm chasing."
There are always homophobic trolls lurking in the shadows, but they fade to insignificance against the support of family, friends, and true fans.
"I had to tell someone," Reis da Silva told CNN about coming out to his inner circle at the age of 18. "When I did, it was really good – the feeling, waking up next day, was perfect."
As was the feeling he got when he came out to the world at large six years later. "It was a buzz that I wasn't expecting," Reis da Silva told CNN.
And those trolls?
"I received almost nothing bad, nothing insulting," Reis da Silva said – "I thought could happen, but it didn't."
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.
