João Lucas Reis da Silva, the only openly gay active player in men’s professional tennis, experienced an unexpected surge of support—and a career high—after sharing a heartfelt Instagram selfie with his boyfriend in December 2024. The 24-year-old Brazilian posted a simple birthday message signed, “I love you very much,” sparking a global wave of encouragement that he says fueled his victory at the Procopio Cup in São Paulo just days later.
“It was a buzz that I wasn’t expecting,” Reis da Silva told CNN Sport. The outpouring of messages from fans worldwide thanking him for his openness “gave me strength” on the court, he explained, culminating in one of his best weeks as a pro and a triumphant end to 2024. While the timing might be coincidental, the emotional lift was undeniable for the young athlete.
Reis da Silva’s post marked a historic moment for men’s tennis, widely recognized as making him the first active male player to come out as gay. Unlike the women’s game—where icons like Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova, and current world No. 12 Daria Kasatkina proudly represent the LGBTQ community—openly gay men have been conspicuously absent from the sport’s top ranks. Former players like Brian Vahaly and Bobby Blair came out post-retirement, but active role models remain rare.
Kasatkina, who came out in 2022, recently suggested on the Fantastic Tennis Podcast that societal stereotypes about masculinity might deter male players from being open. “Our society takes two girls together (more) easily than two dudes together,” she said, pointing to entrenched norms as “the main problem.” Vahaly, reflecting on his time on the ATP Tour in the early 2000s, told the ATP last year that homophobic language was once common, creating an uneasy environment for gay players—though he stopped short of calling the Tour overtly hostile.
Reis da Silva himself isn’t certain why the disparity exists but acknowledges the lack of gay role models in men’s tennis. He also shared his own fears about coming out, even to close friends and family. “With my tennis friends… every day we confide about issues,” he said. “If anything changes, I would feel alone because there’s nobody there. If it goes badly, what can I do?” That fear of rejection kept him silent until he reached a breaking point: “I can’t live like that anymore.”
His courage has not only reshaped his own journey but also sparked a broader conversation about acceptance in men’s tennis, proving that a single selfie can serve as both a personal liberation and a groundbreaking statement.
