Out Gay Tennis Stars At Wimbledon

Wimbledon is currently underway, and there are out gay athletes who are participating in the competition this year.

Some prominent out gay tennis players include Daria Kasatkina, Nadia Podoroska, Greet Minnen, Demi Schurrs and Alison Van Uytvanck.

While there are several out female tennis players, the same cannot be said for men’s tennis players. Currently, there are no out gay players on the men’s tour and no professional male tennis player has come out publicly in the Open Era while still being an active and competing athlete.

Meet the out gay tennis stars at Wimbledon:

Daria Kasatkina

Russian World No 11 has spoken out against Putin and come out as gay. She defended the need to speak out against homophobia even if it comes at the expense of being able to go back home to visit her friends and family.

“This notion of someone wanting to be gay or becoming one is ridiculous. I think there is nothing easier in this world than being straight. Seriously, if there is a choice, no one would choose being gay. Why make your life harder, especially in Russia? What’s the point?” Kasatkina said.

Nadia Podoroska

Argentinian player Nadia Podoroska came out in October last year and confirmed her relationship with fellow Argentinian tennis player Guillermina Naya.

Podoroska shared photos of the couple kissing and hugging to Instagram on Naya’s 26th birthday, with the caption reading: “Today I celebrate you from afar, but I feel you by my side every day of my life.”

Demi Schurrs

Dutch doubles specialist Demi Schurrs came out as a teenager and has been an advocate for LGBTQ+ youth since. Schurrs told the WTA that she loved being able to support younger fans who might be experiencing the same feelings when she first was coming to terms with her sexuality.

“I  remember the feelings I had when I came out, so I want to help younger people understand that they should be how they want to be, and show what they want to show,” Schurrs said.

No Out Gay Male Tennis Players

In tennis, only two openly gay men have played at an elite level, both of whom competed before World War II. Multiple grand slam champion Gottfried von Cramm was arrested for homosexuality in Nazi Germany and  Bill Tilden, who won six straight U.S. National Championship Men’s Singles and was crowned Wimbledon winner three times.

The third out gay man, America’s former world No 63 Brian Vahaly, came out publicly in 2017, a decade after his retirement.

Vahaly is the first pro men’s tennis player ranked in the Top 100 in the modern era to ever publicly come out as gay and explained the decision to come out ten years later, telling  Out Sports that he did not want to be seen as the “gay player”.

“Back then, even if you were friends with gay people that was somehow a reflection of you and your sexuality, they were sort of stigmatized in that way. I think now you see some of the best athletes in the world saying ‘I think this is great, I support the cause’ … That kind of leadership did not exist at that time,” he said.

In an interview with UbiTennis in 2018, Vahaly discussed the conservative environment of tennis, reflecting on the homophobic jokes made during the competition.

“It’s a very masculine and competitive environment. You don’t see a lot of gay representation, except for the women’s Tour. With me not having the personality of an outspoken advocate (for LGBT issues), certainly not in my twenties, I needed some time to understand myself. To me, in tennis I didn’t feel like there was anybody to talk to or anybody that was going through anything similar,” he said.