Frz on the lack of gay players on the men’s tour - Tennis Majors

Contents:

• THERE ARE NO PUBLICLY OUT GAY PRO MALE TENNIS PLAYERS AND NOBODY REALLY KNOWS WHY
• THERE WILL BE NO OUT GAY MALE TENNIS PLAYERS AT THE U.S. OPEN, YET AGA
• JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS' KEV MAXEN FIRST MALE PRO SPORTS ACH TO E OUT AS GAY
• FRZ SAYS OPENLY GAY PLAYER WOULD BE ACCEPTED ON ATP TOUR
• "IF THERE'S A GAY PLAYER THE LOCKER ROOM, NOTHG HAPPENS" - DIEGO SCHWARTZMAN, THE LATT STAR TO SUPPORT THE LGBTQ MOVEMENT
• WHY ARE THERE NO OPENLY GAY PLAYERS ELE MEN'S TENNIS?
• TENNIS' LAST TABOO: WHY NO OPENLY GAY MALE PLAYERS?

THERE ARE NO PUBLICLY OUT GAY PRO MALE TENNIS PLAYERS AND NOBODY REALLY KNOWS WHY

As a former men’s llegiate tennis player and openly gay member of my team, this qutn nagged at me as I attend the monumental first ever Pri event at the U. As a former llegiate tennis player and gay man, this event stck a particularly sensive chord for me. After all of the homophobia I have personally experienced sports, the panelists and the packed dience gave me so much hope for the future of cln sports.

The trailblazer for gay visibily on the ATP tour scribed himself durg the panel discsn as “an anx guy and an anx tennis player, ” statg that his disfort wh his sexual orientatn throughout his life was a signifint ntributor to his anxiety. To me, the fact that Vahaly was even able to make on tour as a closeted gay man the 2000s mak him que an anomaly. The days, top players Roger Ferer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray have all publicly stated that they would wele an out gay man to the ATP.

While we now celebrate Kg for her acplishments as a gay rights activist, the sacrific she had to make and terrors that she endured for wantg to be her thentic self after beg outed towards the end of her profsnal tennis reer – nearly 40 years ago – are unjtifiable. Statistilly speakg, there mt be a man the top 100, 200, 500 or even 1, 000 who is gay, right? Combe that wh gay and bisexual men reprentg a signifintly smaller portn of the populatn than heterosexual men, and the odds of havg one of makg through the ranks growg up and currently beg a profsnal tennis player are slim, no matter how welg players such as Ferer, Djokovic and Murray are 2019.

THERE WILL BE NO OUT GAY MALE TENNIS PLAYERS AT THE U.S. OPEN, YET AGA

There uld be someone makg their way up the rankgs junrs right now, who hopefully will not be terred om tennis for beg a gay or bisexual man, who will see events such as the U.

As Rippon highlighted, g out and beg labeled as “that gay athlete” is not easy to al wh.

The most tellg sign of the lack of out gay men profsnal tennis is that the only player wearg any rabow apparel this summer was a straight guy who had to apologize for g gay slurs durg the Olympics.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS' KEV MAXEN FIRST MALE PRO SPORTS ACH TO E OUT AS GAY

Open starts s two-week n New York, I feel pelled to rehash this prsg statistic: There will once aga be no openly gay male players at one of the sport’s premier events. “To be hont, I’m somewhat surprised that there still hasn’t been an out active ATP Tour level player, ” said Nick Lee, a former llege tennis player at Vassar who is openly gay.

The absence of out male pro tennis players is noteworthy a summer that saw the first gay NFL player and gay NHL prospect e out and a rerd number of out LGBTQ Olympians, cludg the most men ever. Brian Bradley, who is gay and played tennis for Catholic Universy Washgton, D.

C., foced on the dividual nature of the sport when tellg Outsports why he thks gay pro tennis players stay closeted. “There are no out gay players on the ATP tour bee most players don’t pick up a racket hop to be a role mol for an entire margalized muny, ” Bradley said.

FRZ SAYS OPENLY GAY PLAYER WOULD BE ACCEPTED ON ATP TOUR

“It tak a special personaly to both thrive a profsnal sport AND live thentilly as a gay man.

For so long gayns has been attributed to weakns — this n alienate a player om g out. “What happens if you’re the the FIRST out gay player?

“The g out procs is so nuanced, and I n image the trici that e wh beg gay and playg a profsnal sport.

"IF THERE'S A GAY PLAYER THE LOCKER ROOM, NOTHG HAPPENS" - DIEGO SCHWARTZMAN, THE LATT STAR TO SUPPORT THE LGBTQ MOVEMENT

That closeted player may not have signed up to be the first gay player.

But the fear that an out player would be hound by the media has been molished by how quickly the Carl Nassib story fad after the Las Vegas Rairs fensive leman me out as gay June. I thk “gay male pro tennis player out” would be a story that quickly fas as an obssn a culture where “breakg news” gets old really fast. While there are many out women on the women’s tour, there are currently none on the ATP Tour on the men’s si, though var former pro tennis players — most notably Brian Vahaly — have e out as gay.

The other possibily that volv a big “g out” is that one of them is gay and the other is playg along or supportg him. But none of that means they’re gay or love.

WHY ARE THERE NO OPENLY GAY PLAYERS ELE MEN'S TENNIS?

Earlier this year two former profsnal soccer players — Iker Casillas and Carl Puyol — joked on social media about beg gay and a relatnship, drawg some lghs but mostly srn for (or so the accatns go) mockg the g-out experience of athlet. Michael Sam beme the first openly gay player to be drafted when the then-St Louis Rams selected him 2021, Carl Nassib, then wh the Las Vegas Rairs, beme the first active NFL player to e out publicly.

Dec 25 (Rters) - Taylor Frz said that if a men's player on the ATP Tour me out as gay, he would be weled by his peers, the top-ranked Amerin told tennis publitn leadg players past and prent on the WTA Tour have e out as gay, no male player petg at the sport's top level has done the same so far. "I'm not sure if there are homosexual tennis players the top 100, " Frz said an terview published on Sunday. "Another reason may be that those players do not want to risk beg on the receivg end of abive language or beg alienated by their ATP Tour survey of players earlier this year found that 75% had reported havg heard other players e homophobic slurs, leadg the tour to partner wh You Can Play, an anizatn mted to furtherg LGBTQ+ cln survey also dited a "strong fear of rejectn, isolatn om others on tour, and lonels" as beg likely barriers to LGBTQ+ players' publicly disclosg their sexualy to also found overwhelmg support for ATP's takg actn to bat homophobia.

The sportg world hasn't been ignorant of the discsn, and many athlet the recent past have found themselv fortable enough to e out as gay or lbian. Unlike several other sports, where homosexual athlet have received ser backlash and threats, tennis has been largely open and non-homophobic.

TENNIS' LAST TABOO: WHY NO OPENLY GAY MALE PLAYERS?

Tennis is arguably one of the world’s most gay-iendly sports. Many former champns are openly gay, and those clu the greatt of champns.

Here is a list of five homosexual tennis players who have achieved a lot of succs:.

Raymond has been quoted as sayg: "I me out bee I knew that there would be life after tennis, and beg gay and playg tennis is not a big al. Today, she is an ternatnal lear seekg regnn and equal rights for gays and lbians. Prently, Navratilova is volved wh var chari that advote gay and lbian rights.