US tennis No.1 Taylor Fritz insists if a males’s participant on the ATP Tour got here out as homosexual he could be welcomed by his friends.
Whereas quite a few main gamers previous and current on the WTA Tour have come out as homosexual, no male competing on the sport’s high stage has but finished the identical.
“I am undecided if there are gay tennis gamers within the high 100,” Fritz stated in an interview revealed in Clay on Sunday.
“Statistically talking, there needs to be. It’s odd, as a result of I really feel like a participant could be accepted.
“Myself and my associates, different gamers on tour, would not have any points with it. It will be completely regular and I feel folks could be accepting.”
The 25-year-old world No.9 stated gamers could also be reluctant to come back out due to the eye that may include it.
“I could not let you know why (nobody has come out),” Fritz stated.
“That may be numerous large information and possibly folks simply do not need to be within the highlight, possibly they do not need the distraction of getting all the eye.”
One more reason could also be that these gamers don’t need to threat being on the receiving finish of abusive language or being alienated by their friends.
Overtly homosexual Australian males’s soccer star Josh Cavallo acquired abuse on-line after popping out publicly in October 2021, whereas in January the Adelaide United midfielder known as out followers following a 1-1 draw at Melbourne Victory.
An ATP Tour survey of gamers earlier this 12 months discovered that 75 p.c had reported having heard different gamers use homophobic slurs, main the tour to companion with You Can Play, a company dedicated to furthering LGBTQI inclusion in sports activities.
The survey additionally indicated a “sturdy concern of rejection, isolation from others on tour, and loneliness” as being probably boundaries to LGBTQI gamers publicly disclosing their sexuality to others.
