Joao Lucas Reis da Silva becomes first out gay active professional men's tennis player

Joao Lucas Reis da Silva opened up about the history-making social media post that made him the first active openly gay men’s tennis player in an interview with *The Athletic* this weekend.

“I didn’t think about it… I just wanted to post a picture with him,” said Reis da Silva, a Brazilian athlete currently ranked No. 376 on the ATP tour, of boyfriend Gui Sampaio.

Reis da Silva posted a birthday message for Sampaio Ricardo, a model-actor he has been dating for over a year, on Instagram on December 7, earning praise from fans and fellow players, including countryman Thiago Monteiro, a former world No. 61.

“I was like, ‘Oh my god, it’s my boyfriend’s birthday. Like happy birthday. I love you.’ And then, boom!” said Reis da Silva. “It was so normal for me that I didn’t think about it.

“I’m really happy that people respect me, that people look at me, admire me maybe.”

Ranked just outside the Top 200 as recently as last November, Reis da Silva, 24, won a wild-card play-off that earned him a spot in next February’s Rio Open qualifying draw, giving him the chance to make his ATP tour debut.

‘When I tried to love myself, that was something different. It changed my life, changed everything, the relationship with my parents, with my coaches,’ he said.

Never before has the ATP tour included an openly gay player; former world No. 57 and current USTA Chairman of the Board and President Brian Vahaly came out in 2017, a decade after retiring from tennis.

Click here to read the full interview in The Athletic, reported by Matthew Futterman and Charlie Eccleshare.