Where are the publicly out gay pro male tennis players? - Outsports

Contents:

• THERE WILL BE NO OUT GAY MALE TENNIS PLAYERS AT THE U.S. OPEN, YET AGA
• FRZ SAYS OPENLY GAY PLAYER WOULD BE ACCEPTED ON ATP TOUR
• THERE ARE NO PUBLICLY OUT GAY PRO MALE TENNIS PLAYERS AND NOBODY REALLY KNOWS WHY
• TOP 10 ATHLET WHO ARE RUMORED TO BE GAY
• "IF THERE'S A GAY PLAYER THE LOCKER ROOM, NOTHG HAPPENS" - DIEGO SCHWARTZMAN, THE LATT STAR TO SUPPORT THE LGBTQ MOVEMENT
• TOP NAM COME IN SUPPORT OF OPENLY GAY PLAYERS ON THE MEN’S TOUR
• QUERREY: ‘THERE’S GOT TO BE SOMEONE WHO PLAYS TENNIS WHO IS GAY’
• TENNIS' LAST TABOO: WHY NO OPENLY GAY MALE PLAYERS?

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

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.

FRZ SAYS OPENLY GAY PLAYER WOULD BE ACCEPTED ON ATP TOUR

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.

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

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

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?

TOP 10 ATHLET WHO ARE RUMORED TO BE GAY

“The g out procs is so nuanced, and I n image the trici that e wh beg gay and playg a profsnal sport. 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. After wng his match the quarter fal agast Italy's Lorenzo Metti REUTERS/Jon Naz/File PhotoDec 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.

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

"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. 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.

TOP NAM COME IN SUPPORT OF OPENLY GAY PLAYERS ON THE MEN’S TOUR

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.

QUERREY: ‘THERE’S GOT TO BE SOMEONE WHO PLAYS TENNIS WHO IS GAY’

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.

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

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.