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.
While quite a few main gamers previous and current on the WTA Tour have come out as homosexual, no male competing on the sport’s prime degree has but completed the identical.
“I’m not sure if there are homosexual tennis players in the top 100,” Fritz mentioned in an interview revealed in Clay on Sunday.
“Statistically speaking, there should be. It is odd, because I feel like a player would be accepted.
“Myself and my associates, different gamers on tour, would not have any points with it. It could be completely regular and I believe folks could be accepting.”
The 25-year-old world No.9 said players may be reluctant to come out because of the attention that would come with it.
“I could not let you know why (nobody has got here out),” Fritz mentioned.
“That could be numerous huge news and perhaps folks simply do not wish to be within the highlight, perhaps they do not need the distraction of getting all the eye.”
Another reason may be that those players do not want to risk being on the receiving end of abusive language or being alienated by their peers.
Openly gay Australian men’s soccer star Josh Cavallo received abuse online after coming out publicly in October 2021, while in January the Adelaide United midfielder called out fans following a 1-1 draw at Melbourne Victory.
An ATP Tour survey of players earlier this year found that 75 per cent had reported having heard other players use homophobic slurs, leading the tour to partner with You Can Play, an organisation committed to furthering LGBTQI inclusion in sports.
The survey also indicated a “robust worry of rejection, isolation from others on tour, and loneliness” as being seemingly limitations to LGBTQI gamers publicly disclosing their sexuality to others.
