Tennis anyone? The gays are serving it in these sweaty photos ahead of Wimbledon
The gays are giving racquet eleganza.
Mark
As the sports world watches the 2025 Wimbledon Championships get going, it’s hard to believe men’s tennis got its first-ever out gay active player just months ago, in December 2024, when Brazilian player João Lucas Reis da Silva, then 24, posted a birthday tribute to boyfriend Gui Sampaio Ricardo on Instagram.
Out gay players Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova had blazed trails in women’s tennis, but men’s tennis hadn’t had that kind of role model in active play.
How about we take this to the next level?
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Tennis stars like Brian Vahaly and Bobby Blair came out after their retirements, The Athletic reports. Vahaly told The Telegraph in 2018 that he “would have certainly been a happier player” had he come out earlier and that he was aiming “to provide the environment where a player feels comfortable and confident enough to come out and then potentially be even more successful as a player.”
So it was a big deal when Reis da Silva hit the post button on Instagram in December.
“Billie Jean King wrote to me, a lot of people that I can’t remember now, a lot of likes,” Reis da Silva told CLAY this April.
“And a lot of people around me too, people I already knew I could count on, but who wrote me a lot of nice and kind things. And a lot of people I don’t know, but who told me they admired me. That was the biggest motivation.”
He added, “I don’t think I’m that special, so I can’t be the only one, I can’t be that unique. I don’t know anything about anyone, but I think it’s unlikely that I’m the only gay player on the tour.”
In our books, Reis da Silva is that special — as is any LGBTQ+ player who steps onto the court, out or otherwise.
See some of those athletes in the photos below, all of which are tennis pics tagged with #gay, #gaytennis, or some variation thereof.
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