On Wednesday, USTA celebrated its inaugural Pride Day at the US Open.
Rainbows were prominent throughout the grounds, from wristbands on ball persons to lights on Arthur Ashe Stadium. Messages popped up on scoreboards reminding spectators of the occasion. Pre-match coin tosses featured same-sex couples, including former Top 100 player Brian Vahaly and his husband Bill—with the two ultimately having their five-year-old twin boys do the honors for the night-session match between Sloane Stephens and Coco Gauff.
While several WTA players have come out during their playing careers, the ATP has not seen an openly gay player compete on tour. Danill Medvedev, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Stefanos Tsitsipas were each asked how they would feel if one of their active peers came out as gay in their post-match press conferences.
“I think everybody would be super open if somebody would come out on the ATP Tour,” said Medvedev. “I think it's great from US Open this initiative. I think ATP honestly is doing a good job also, especially internally trying to provide info and to just make sure that if anybody wants to come out, he's gonna feel safe and secure.”