Jo茫o Lucas Reis da Silva Becomes First Openly Gay Man To Compete At Australian Open
Image: Joa虄o Lucas Reis/Instagram
Brazilian tennis player Jo茫o Lucas Reis da Silva made history on Monday when he became the first openly gay man to compete at the Australian Open.
In 2024, the 25-year-old became the first active male professional player to come out when he shared a series of photos to Instagram celebrating his boyfriend’s birthday, actor and model Gui Sampaio Ricardo.
He went on to make history again as the first out gay tennis pro to compete in a Grand Slam event.
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The Brazilian no. 3 is currently ranked 204th in the world, but reached his peak position to date of 187th in November, climbing more than 200 spots since the time of his coming out.
Unfortunately, Reis da Silva lost to Portugal鈥檚 Henrique Rocha in the first round of qualifying for the men鈥檚 draw on Monday, 6-2, 6-4, but will be paid at least $40,500 AUD.
Focus remains “100 percent” on tennis
to Argentine website La Nacion last, year, Reis da Silva said he didn’t want his coming out to effect his game, and had denied opportunities to become somewhat of a spokesperson.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to be an example,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 at my highest ranking for focusing 100 percent on tennis, and I don鈥檛 want that to change. I want to keep improving.
鈥淎t first, when I told people, it was difficult for me because my routine didn鈥檛 change, but other things came to mind. I was offered to do advertisements, campaigns, talks鈥� and I didn鈥檛 want to. A tennis player already has a lot of pressure and things going through their mind. And the simpler your day-to-day life is, the better you can handle things on the court.鈥�
However, he does acknowledge the significance of his position as an out gay man in professional tennis.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a really hard thing that homosexuality isn鈥檛 talked about in men鈥檚 tennis,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of machismo. And there are stereotypes that men have to appear stronger and more masculine; but it鈥檚 a little sad. I remember when I wasn鈥檛 open and tried to appear something I wasn鈥檛. And when I started meeting friends in Rio de Janeiro who were similar to me, that鈥檚 when I understood they didn鈥檛 have problems. They didn鈥檛 hide anything. I felt good when I started seeing people who were like me.
鈥淚t鈥檚 getting better and better, but there鈥檚 still a lot to improve. It鈥檚 2025, and I鈥檓 the first tennis player to have spoken out鈥� it鈥檚 funny. I don鈥檛 think I鈥檓 the only one. If you look at other sports, there are more examples. But if I鈥檓 able to come here one day, like I did in December, and upload a photo with my boyfriend, it鈥檚 because things are better.鈥�
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