24-yr old tennis star becomes the first active men’s player in history to come out as gay with recent social media post with ‘model’ boyfriend

Brazilian Joao Lucas Reis has become the first active male tennis player to openly state that he is a homosexual.

24-yr old tennis star becomes the first active men’s player in history to come out as gay with recent social media post with ‘model’ boyfriend

Joao Lucas Reis (via Daily Sport)

Homosexuality has long been a major taboo in tennis. But that is slowly changing, as Brazilian Joao Lucas Reis has publicly come out as gay. The World No. 401 and 11th best tennis player in Brazil is the first active male player to openly acknowledge his homosexuality.

Reis began gaining prominence in the ITF circuit, winning nine titles. He is currently competing in the ATP Challenger Tour circuit. The Brazilian reached a career-high ranking of World No. 259 in singles and No. 209 in doubles.

Earlier this year, Reis was a finalist at his home Florianopolis Challenger tournament earlier this year and then reached the Temuco Challenger in Chile last month. He is also set to compete at the Procopio Cup, a tournament that gives the champion a wildcat for the 2025 Rio Open ATP 500 qualifying rounds.

The 24-year-old has now dared to break the silence about his sexual orientation without fear of public judgment. He made this public by posting photos with his model boyfriend Gui Sampaio Ricardo on Instagram.

Happy birthday. Happy life. I love you so much.

Joao Lucas Reis captioned his Instagram post

Reis’ announcement comes at a time when no male player has publicly done so. In women’s sports, however, several players, including Daria Kasatkina, have been open about their homosexuality. In the 1970s, Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova pioneered and helped normalize same-sex love, which has become a norm today.

Following Joao Lucas Reis Da Silva’s announcement, what did Taylor Fritz say about lack of openly gay tennis players?

Before the Open Era, German star and two-time French Open champion Gottfried von Cramm was persecuted severely by the Nazis for his homosexuality. He faced a six-month prison sentence and conscription after admitting he was gay.

Taylor Fritz
Taylor Fritz (via X)

However, since then, no player has faced any persecution for revealing his sexual orientation in public. Yet, there have been no active players to openly admit to being in a same-sex relationship until Joao Lucas Reis.

In 2022, Taylor Fritz supported that male homosexual players should be bold about their sexual orientation. He added that they will be well accepted.

I’m not sure if there are homosexual tennis players in the top 100. I don’t know. Maybe people think behind closed doors we know or something. Statistically speaking, there should be. I think it’s odd, because I feel like a player would be accepted. Myself and my friends, other players on tour wouldn’t have any issues with it. Maybe people just don’t want to be in the spotlight.

Taylor Fritz said (via CLAY)

With Reis openly declaring that he is gay, he has already taken the first step towards normalizing homosexuality in men’s professional tennis. In the next few years, other players can perhaps follow in the Brazilian footsteps.