Tennis' first openly-gay ATP player Joao Lucas Reis Da Silva shares his feelings about coming out of the closet and how it impacts the sport

Brazilian tennis player Joao Lucas Reis Da Silva spoke about coming out as gay and how others around him responded to it. The 24-year-old is the first openly-gay tennis player in the ATP.

Da Silva has mostly competed on the ATP Challenger Tour and the ITF circuit, and he is currently ranked 401st in singles while being 367th in doubles. In a recent interview with The Athletic, the Brazilian said that he could not speak about his homosexuality to his coaches or friends.

Da Silva also stated that once he came out, others stopped saying things they used to say about him before.

"I couldn't say too much about what it was to my coaches or my friends. In the locker room at some tournaments I heard things that bothered me, but when I started telling everyone that I'm gay, they stopped saying these things. It's like when they have someone close to them who is gay, they respect them more and stop saying those shi**y comments," the 24-year-old said, as quoted by Punto De Break.

The Brazilian also said that while others have said that he inspires them, he does not only want to talk about being an openly-gay tennis player.

"People have told me that, they have told me that they admire me, that I inspire people, so that's very important to me. I have no problem being remembered as the great gay tennis player, but I don't want to talk about it all the time," Da Silva said.

A look into Joao Lucas Reis Da Silva's performances in 2024

Joao Lucas Reis Da Silva in 2024 (Image Source: Instagram)

Joao Lucas Reis Da Silva has mostly competed on the ATP Tour and the ITF circuit. His best performance this year was reaching the final of a clay-court tournament in Florianopolis, Brazil.

The 24-year-old defeated the likes of Pedro Sakamoto, Daniel Dutra da Silva, Juan Carlos Prado Angelo and Camilo Ugo Carabelli before losing to Enzo Couacaud.

The Brazilian also reached the semifinals of his last tournament appearance, which came at Temuco, Chile. He beat then-World No. 84 Francisco Comesana, Diego Dedura-Palomero and Conner Huertas Del Pino before losing to Lebanon's Hady Habib.

All-in-all, Joao Lucas Reis Da Silva won 24 out of 53 matches he played in 2024 across the Challenger Tour and the ITF circuit.