Dec 25 (Reuters) – Taylor Fritz stated that if a males’s participant on the ATP Tour got here out as homosexual, he could be welcomed by his friends, the top-ranked American informed tennis publication Clay.
Whereas main gamers previous and current on the WTA Tour have come out as homosexual, no male participant competing on the sport’s prime degree has finished the identical up to now.
“I am unsure if there are gay tennis gamers within the prime 100,” Fritz stated in an interview printed on Sunday. “Statistically talking, there must be. … I believe it’s odd, as a result of I really feel like a participant could be accepted.
“Myself and my buddies, different gamers on tour would not have any points with it, it might be completely regular and I believe folks could be accepting.”
The 25-year-old world quantity 9 stated gamers could also be reluctant to come back out due to the eye that might include it.
“I could not inform you why (nobody has got here out),” Fritz stated.
“That will be loads of huge information and perhaps folks simply do not need to be within the highlight, perhaps they do not need the distraction of getting all the eye and stuff like that.”
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.
An ATP Tour survey of gamers earlier this 12 months discovered that 75% had reported having heard different gamers use homophobic slurs, main the tour to companion with You Can Play, a corporation dedicated to furthering LGBTQ+ inclusion in sports activities.
The survey additionally indicated a “sturdy concern of rejection, isolation from others on tour, and loneliness” as being seemingly boundaries to LGBTQ+ gamers’ publicly disclosing their sexuality to others.
It additionally discovered overwhelming assist for ATP’s taking motion to fight homophobia.
Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; Modifying by Leslie Adler
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