On Saturday, December 7, 24-year-old professional tennis player Joao Lucas Reis da Silva did the most common thing anyone does these days. He posted a couple selfie on Instagram.
Since it was his partner’s birthday, he posted a cute merry-go-round posing by the water in Rio de Janeiro. “I love you so much,” he wrote. This post made him a pioneer, the first openly gay professional male tennis player. But he just wanted to wish his partner a happy birthday.
“I didn’t think about it, I just wanted to post a picture with him,” Reis da Silva said. athletic Sunday in Sao Paulo, in his first international interview since becoming an unwitting part of tennis history.
About an hour ago, he beat Daniel Dutra da Silva 7-5, 1-6, 6-4 to win the tournament for the first time in four years, lifting the Procopio Cup and qualifying for the Rio Open. I advanced to the preliminaries. , an ATP 500 event he has participated in for the past two years. Not bad for a few days in the world number 367.
“It was a really crazy week, but in the end it was perfect,” he said. After two injury lay-offs, the 24-year-old said he had recently played the best tennis of his life, reaching the semi-finals of a tournament in Chile before winning the title in Sao Paulo. He felt the tennis world was watching him in a way it never had before.
“I didn’t feel any pressure,” he said. “I was happy. My boyfriend was also here. He was supporting me. “Our whole team was here.”
The women’s tennis tour has had numerous out gay players, including all-time greats Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova, who have won 98 Grand Slam titles in singles and doubles.
Men’s tennis wasn’t like this. Bill Tilden, the American star who dominated tennis in the 1920s, never publicly discussed his sexual orientation outside of his 1948 book ‘My Story: Memoirs of a Champion’. Brian Vahaly, who played in the 2000s and achieved a personal best of world rankings of 57th, and Bobby Blair, who played on tour in the 1980s, came out after retiring from professional tennis.
Reis da Silva said Sunday that he told family and friends he was gay five years ago. “It was difficult before,” he explained.
“I couldn’t tell my coaches or friends too much about myself. When I tried to love myself, it was something different. It changed my life and everything. My relationships with my parents and coaches also changed.”
About a year ago, Reis da Silva fell in love with Brazilian actor and model Gui Sampaio Ricardo. Then Riccardo’s birthday came in 2024, and Reis da Silva did what all 24-year-olds do.
“I was like, ‘Oh my God, it’s my boyfriend’s birthday.’ happy birthday. i love you.’ And boom!
“It was so natural to me that I didn’t even think about it.”
Messages and support from celebrities inside and outside the tennis world began to pour in. Lulu Santos, a famous Brazilian music star, sent him a message. Brazil’s current No. 1 ranking, Thiago Monteiro, added a heart emoticon to the post. He received a like from gay Brazilian gymnast Diego Hippolito, who won a silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
And so this little-known athlete from Recife, a city on Brazil’s northeastern coast, became a sporting and cultural icon. He said he expected some negative reaction, but the response was “99.9% positive.”
“I’m really happy that people respect me, look at me, and maybe even look up to me,” he said.
Joao Lucas Reis da Silva is on his way to winning the Copa Procopio in Sao Paulo, Brazil. (Joao Pires / Photo Jump)
In an interview with The Telegraph in 2018, Vahaly said he heard homophobic comments from other players in the locker room, describing it as “part of the culture”. He added, “I hope there comes a time when I can say ‘congratulations’ and move on quickly.” We need to get over the fact that people are defined by their sexuality.”
Reis da Silva, who said he knew Vahaly had been honored at the US Open, remembers hearing someone say something offensive in the gym when he was 18 years old.
“In the locker room and at tournaments, I would hear things that bothered me,” he said.
“But when I started telling everyone that I was gay and people found out, they stopped saying this. It’s like having a gay person around you and respecting that person more. They stopped making outrageous comments,” Reis da Silva said.
“Maybe stopping that would be a big deal. If people see someone who is gay, things can change. People can stop saying things that shouldn’t hurt people.”
Recently retired former world number 37 Alison Van Uytvanck, who is married to physiotherapist Emilie Vermeiren, said she had never received any negative comments in the locker room. In an interview earlier this year, Van Uytvanck said: athletic “It’s a bit surprising,” he said, that there hasn’t yet been an active male player on the ATP Tour.
“If only one player was open about it, like a top 100 player, it would be easier for other people to disclose as well.”
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Reis da Silva said having a role model in the sport would have made a big difference to him.
“When I was 16 or 15, I had a hard time accepting myself.
“Maybe it would have been easier for me to accept and love myself if I had someone who said to me, ‘I’m gay, I’m here, I’m playing in a big tournament.’ People told me that. People told me they respected me. That I inspire people. So that’s a big problem for me and them.
“I have no problem being remembered as the greatest gay tennis player. But I don’t want to talk about it every time.
“I know there will be a lot of attention on me.”
Reis da Silva, who comes from a tennis-playing family, said he started hitting balls at the age of three. He followed in the footsteps of his older brother, who was six years older and competed at the junior level. As a young boy, Reis da Silva was so obsessed with tennis that he would cry when his father told him it was time to go home.
He began competing in national competitions at the age of 10, and left home for São Paulo at the age of 13. After living and training there for seven years, I moved to Rio de Janeiro. Reis da Silva prefers to battle from the baseline rather than rush the net, and counts his service return and backhand as his biggest weapons.
“I love breaking serve,” he said. “I like to stay in that spot, use an aggressive forehand and make big rallies.”
He competed not only in South America, but throughout the United States, Europe and Australia, appearing in a Grand Slam as a junior. After winning Sao Paulo, he plans to spend a week on vacation with his boyfriend, including a few days in Porto de Galinhas, a seaside town famous for its natural swimming pools and white sand beaches. Next, she plans to spend Christmas with her boyfriend’s family in Goiania, a small city in the central region near the capital Brasilia.
Joao Lucas Reis da Silva hits his favorite shot in the men’s singles at Wimbledon 2018. (Michael Steele/Getty Images)
He will then return to Rio and begin preparations for the South American ATP Tour swing in February and some Challenger tournaments (a level below the ATP Tour) leading up to the Rio Open. His biggest goal for 2025 is to play in the qualifying tournaments for Roland Garros and build the tennis life he wants to have.
“Because this is an individual sport, you can be whatever you want,” he said hopefully. “Everyone will accept you.”
(Top photo: Joao Pires/Photojump)
