Joao Lucas Reis da Silva didn’t see his groundbreaking social media post as a coming-out statement. In fact, he came out to his friends and family five years ago.
The 24-year-old Brazilian has made headlines after publically confirming he is in a same-sex relationship and is the first active player in men’s tennis to confirm they are gay. On December 7th, Reis posted a happy birthday message to his boyfriend, Gui Sampaio Ricardo, on Instagram that read ‘Happy birthday, happy life, I love you very much.’ That post has now received more than 15,000 likes.
“I didn’t think about it… I just wanted to post a picture with him,” Reis said during an interview with The Athletic earlier this week.
Coming to terms with his sexuality, the world No.367 said coming out to his friends and family has a positive impact on him both personally and professionally.
“I couldn’t say too much about myself to my coaches, to my friends. When I tried to love myself, that was something different. It changed my life, changed everything, the relationship with my parents, with my coaches,” he reflected.
Unlike the women’s Tour, there have been few players who have come out as gay. Former top 100 player Brian Vahaly came out after retiring from the sport after taking time to come to terms with his sexuality. During an interview with Ubitennis in 2021, he said he felt he couldn’t come to terms with being gay while playing on the Tour. Vahaly has been nominated as president and chair of the board of the United States Tennis Association for a two-year term starting January 1st.
Other examples include players who competed at a time when homosexual people faced high levels of discrimination and were criminalized. Gottfried von Cramm was imprisoned for being in a same-sex relationship during the 1930s. Meanwhile, Bill Tilden won 10 majors between 1920-1930 and at the time there was a lot of speculation surrounding his sexuality. He later served jail terms in 1946 and 1949 for sexual misconduct with minors but was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame six years after his death.
Reis knows he will now be a role model for others. Something he wish he had when he was growing up.
“When I was 16, 15, I had problems accepting myself,” he said.
“Maybe if I had had someone playing saying, ‘I’m gay, I’m here, I’m competing for the big tournaments,’ it would have been easier for me to accept myself and to love myself. People have told me that. People told me that they admire me. That I inspire people. So it’s a big deal for me and them.
“I don’t have a problem with being remembered as the great gay tennis player but I don’t want to talk about that every time, you know?
“I know there will be a lot of attention on me.”
As for the reception from other players in the locker room, Reis has heard offensive remarks about gay people but those comments stopped when he opened up about his personal life.
“In the locker rooms and at tournaments I used to hear some things that kind of bothered me,” he said.
“But when I started to tell everyone that I’m gay and these people knew about it, they stopped saying these things. It’s like when they have someone close to them that is gay, they respect them more. They stop doing sh**** comments.”
Reis has recently secured a wild card for next year’s Rio Open qualifying draw after winning the Procopio Open. This season he has reached the final of a Challenger event in Florianopolis and the semi-finals of two other events at this level. He has been ranked as high as 204 in the world.
