Having become last year the first openly gay male professional tennis player, Brazilian João Lucas Reis da Silva makes history again by being the first gay player to participate in the Australian Open qualifiers, one of the Grand Slam tournaments.
Is coming out the magic that gives him superpowers? Since he came out by posting photos with his partner on Instagram in December 2024, Brazilian tennis player João Lucas Reis da Silva, now 25, seems to have known no setbacks. In a year, he managed to climb from the top 400 of the ATP rankings to the 187th place in the world. A remarkable progression that allows him to secure his place in his first Grand Slam tournament: the Australian Open, which begins this Monday, January 12 in Melbourne.
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Between locker-room homophobia and the fear of losing sponsors, the men’s circuit has welcomed very few coming outs. The first by an active pro was indeed that of the Brazilian in December 2024. While women’s tennis already counts several lesbian legends such as Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova and Amélie Mauresmo. “Women come out more easily”, noted the Belgian Alison Van Uytvanck in 2019 after coming out.
Two Gay Coming Outs
João Lucas Reis da Silva is well placed to know how lacking gay representation is in his sport: “When I was 16 or 15, I struggled to accept myself. If I had had someone saying, ‘I am gay, I am here, I participate in the major tournaments,’ I might have found it easier to accept and to love myself”, he told The Athletic at the time of his coming out.
The Brazilian’s example was followed: at the end of 2025, Swiss player Mika Brunold, 21, became the second circuit member to declare his homosexuality. In the Instagram post announcing it, he argued: “We do not talk enough about this topic in sport. I am convinced that in an ideal world, we would not need to come out at all.” We are not there yet, so the message remains valid: come out of the closet!
