On , João Lucas Reis da Silva, a 24-year-old professional tennis player, did something remarkably ordinary: he posted a selfie on Instagram.
It was his partner’s birthday, a simple carousel of images taken by the water in Rio de Janeiro accompanied by the caption, “I love you so much.” That post inadvertently made him a trailblazer – the first openly gay active professional male tennis player – but his intention was simply to wish his boyfriend a happy birthday.
“I didn’t think about it… I just wanted to post a picture with him,” Reis da Silva told The Athletic the following day from São Paulo.
Just an hour before, he’d secured his first tournament victory in four years, defeating Daniel Dutra da Silva 7-5, 1-6, 6-4 to win the Procopio Cup and earn a qualifying spot at the Rio de Janeiro Open, an ATP 500 event.
“It’s been a crazy week but in the end it was perfect,” he said. The 24-year-old had been playing what he described as the best tennis of his life, reaching the semifinals of a tournament in Chile before his triumph in São Paulo. Even as he felt the tennis world watching him in a new way.
“I didn’t feel pressure,” he said. “I was happy. I had my boyfriend here with me. He was supporting me. My whole team was here.”
Approximately 14 months later, on , Reis da Silva stepped onto the courts at the Rio de Janeiro Open to face Yannick Hanfmann of Germany, marking another milestone as the first openly gay male player to compete in an ATP Tour main-draw match.
The women’s tour has a history of openly gay players, including icons like Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova, who combined to win 98 Grand Slam titles.
The men’s game has been different. Bill Tilden, a dominant force in the 1920s, never publicly discussed his sexuality outside of his 1948 autobiography, “My Story: A Champion’s Memoirs.” Brian Vahaly, who reached a career-high of world No. 57 in the 2000s and Bobby Blair, a player from the 1980s, came out after retiring from professional tennis.
Reis da Silva revealed in 2024 that he had come out to his family and friends in 2019. “Before that, it was tough,” he explained. “I couldn’t say too much about myself to my coaches, to my friends. When I tried to love myself, that was something different. It changed my life, changed everything, the relationship with my parents, with my coaches.”
His life changed again at the end of 2022 when he fell in love with Gui Sampaio Ricardo, a Brazilian actor and model. Then came Ricardo’s birthday in 2024, and Reis da Silva did what many 24-year-olds do.
“I was like, ‘Oh my god, it’s my boyfriend’s birthday. Like happy birthday. I love you.’ And then, boom!
“It was so normal for me that I didn’t think about it.”
Messages of support poured in from across the tennis world and beyond. Lulu Santos, a prominent Brazilian musician, reached out. Thiago Monteiro, Brazil’s current No. 1 player, added heart emojis to the post. Even Diego Hypolito, a gay Brazilian gymnast who won a silver medal at the Rio Olympics in 2016, showed his support with a like.
Suddenly, this relatively unknown player from Recife, a coastal city in northeastern Brazil, had become a cultural icon. He anticipated some negative reactions, but the responses were “99.9 percent positive.”
“I’m really happy that people respect me, that people look at me, admire me maybe,” he said.
João Lucas Reis da Silva on his way to winning the Procopio Cup in São Paolo, Brazil. (João Pires / Photojump)
Brian Vahaly, in a 2018 interview with The Telegraph, described hearing homophobic comments from other players in the locker room, calling it “part of the culture.” He expressed hope for a time when such discussions would be commonplace and sexuality wouldn’t define an athlete.
Reis da Silva, aware of Vahaly’s upcoming role as USTA president beginning in 2025, recalled hearing offensive remarks himself at age 18.
“In the locker rooms and at tournaments I used to hear some things that kind of bothered me,” he said.
“But when I started to tell everyone that I’m gay and these people knew about it, they stopped saying these things. It’s like when they have someone close to them that is gay, they respect them more. They stop doing sh**** comments,” Reis da Silva said.
“Maybe that’s a big thing to stop it — if people see someone in the top that is gay, things can change. People might stop saying things they shouldn’t that hurt people.”
Alison Van Uytvanck, a recently retired former world No. 37, noted in a 2024 interview that she never encountered negative comments in the locker room and found it “kind of surprising” that the ATP Tour hadn’t yet had an openly gay, active player.
“If only one player, like a top 100 player, would be open about it, it would be easier for others to open up.”
Reis da Silva said having a role model in the sport would have made a significant difference in his own life.
“When I was 16, 15, I had problems accepting myself.
“Maybe if I had had someone playing saying, ‘I’m gay, I’m here, I’m competing for the big tournaments,’ it would have been easier for me to accept myself and to love myself. People have told me that. People told me that they admire me. That I inspire people. So it’s a big deal for me and them.
“I don’t have a problem with being remembered as the great gay tennis player,” he said, “but I don’t want to talk about that every time, you know?
“I know there will be a lot of attention on me.”
Born into a tennis-playing family, Reis da Silva began hitting balls at age three, following in the footsteps of his older brother, who competed at the junior level. He was so passionate about the sport as a child that he would cry when his father told him it was time to go home.
He began competing nationally at age 10, moving to São Paulo at 13 to further his training, where he lived and trained for seven years before relocating to Rio de Janeiro. Reis da Silva prefers a baseline game, utilizing his service return and backhand as key weapons.
“I love to break serves,” he said. “I like to stay there in the point and be aggressive in my forehand and play big rallies.”
After his win in São Paulo in 2024, he took a week off, including a few days of vacation with his boyfriend in Porto de Galinhas, a beach town known for its natural pools and white sand. He then spent Christmas with his boyfriend’s family in Goiania, a small city near Brasilia.
João Lucas Reis da Silva hitting his favorite shot during the Wimbledon boys’ singles in 2018. (Michael Steele / Getty Images)
After that, he returned to Rio de Janeiro to prepare for Challenger tournaments leading into the South American ATP Tour swing in February and the Rio de Janeiro Open. His goal for 2025 was to build the tennis career he envisioned, and he did just that, winning 52 matches and his first Challenger title. He then returned to Rio de Janeiro for 2026, making a little more quiet history with his straight-sets defeat to Hanfmann.
“It’s an individual sport, so you can be whatever you want,” he said hopefully. “Everybody will accept you.”
