Mika Brunold, Who Came Out as Gay, Reveals Impact of His Announcement: “I was Surprised”

Mika Brunold is the second player on the ATP Tour to openly come out as gay after Joao Lucas Reis da Silva.

Mika Brunold, Who Came Out as Gay, Reveals Impact of His Announcement: “I was Surprised”

Mika Brunold (Image via Punto de Break)

In Short
  • Mika Brunold came out as gay in November, expressing the importance of honesty and acceptance.
  • He was positively surprised by the supportive reactions from the tennis community following his announcement.
  • Brunold hopes his openness will encourage other players to share their identities publicly.

Last November, Switzerland’s Mika Brunold decided to come out as gay. In a recent interview, he revealed the reactions of the tennis world after revealing that he is homosexual.

In a heartfelt Instagram post, he said he took a “step for myself” and “in an ideal world, we wouldn’t even need to ‘come out’ at all. He also said being a gay is not only about loving the same genger but also about the “fear of not being accepted, the pressure to stay quiet, the feeling of being different.“

He said he had been thinking a lot about being honest with himself because he couldn’t pretend to be someone he’s not. Now, in an interview with Blick, the 21-year-old shared how it felt when the burden was lifted from him.

I was positively surprised, to be honest. First, I was surprised by everything that the news triggered, and secondly, by the many benevolent comments below the post. I don’t know, maybe I expected many more negative reactions, feared that people wouldn’t be able to stay within limits, but I think I just read about five inappropriate comments.

The World No.459 reached a career-high ranking of No.289 in August last year. He competes mostly on the ATP Challenger Tour.

It would be good if this path that both I and other players have chosen encourages other teammates to follow it in the same way. Each person must choose their own path, decide for themselves whether to make it public or prefer to keep it private. In my case, I felt that was the right time to communicate it.

Mika Brunold added

Last year in Challengers, Brunold played two semifinals as well as three quarterfinals. This year, he has so far featured in two challengers. He lost to Tom Gentzsch in the Nottingham Challenger and was scheduled to face Tiago Pereira in the Glasgow Challenger, but he withdrew.

Mika Brunold is the second ATP player, after Joao Lucas Reis da Silva, to openly declare himself gay

ATP player Joao Lucas Reis da Silva took to his Instagram to share photos of himself and his boyfriend in 2024, becoming the first active ATP player to come out. Mika Brunold believes his and Reis da Silva’s openness will have a positive effect on the men’s tour.

Mika Brunold (2)
Mika Brunold (Image via Punto de Break)

My impression is that the tennis world is already ready for gay players. In my case, at least, I can be open about it, without any problem. Or rather, I’ve noticed that it’s not an issue at all on the tour.

Mika Brunold told Blick

He pointed out that the women’s tour has many gay players, including former World No.1 and 18-time Grand Slam singles champion Martina Navratilova and current World No.61 Daria Kasatkina, who left Russia and obtained Australian citizenship to live openly as a gay woman.

It would be nice if the path we’ve chosen encourages other players as well. Everyone has to go their own way and decide for themselves whether they want to go public with it. For me, the moment was absolutely right.

Mika Brunold added

Brunold made his Challenger debut in Lugano as a wild card and reached the main draw. He made his ATP main draw doubles debut at the 2023 Swiss Open Gstaad after receiving a wild card with Kilian Feldbausch. He also received a wildcard for the 2023 Swiss Indoors singles qualifying competition.

The following year, as well, he received a wild card for the singles qualifying matches, where he lost to James Duckworth. Last year as well, he received the wild card for the qualifying round but squandered six match points against Reilly Opelka.

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