Fritz says openly gay player would be accepted on ATP Tour
Last updated on: 26 December,2022 10:58 am
Fritz says openly gay player would be accepted on ATP Tour
(Reuters) - Taylor Fritz said that if a men’s player on the ATP Tour came out as gay, he would be welcomed by his peers, the top-ranked American told tennis publication Clay.
While leading players past and present on the WTA Tour have come out as gay, no male player competing at the sport’s top level has done the same so far.
"I’m not sure if there are homosexual tennis players in the top 100," Fritz said in an interview published on Sunday. "Statistically speaking, there should be. ... I think it is odd, because I feel like a player would be accepted.
"Myself and my friends, other players on tour wouldn’t have any issues with it, it would be totally normal and I think people would be accepting."
The 25-year-old world number nine said players may be reluctant to come out because of the attention that would come with it.
"I couldn’t tell you why (no one has came out)," Fritz said.
"That would be a lot of big news and maybe people just don’t want to be in the spotlight, maybe they don’t want the distraction of getting all the attention and stuff like that."
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.