Martina Navratilova: ‘I can’t believe there isn’t an out male tennis player yet’
By Josh Haggis
Martina Navratilova has said that she “can’t believe” that there are still no openly gay professional male tennis players.
The gay tennis legend, who won a massive 18 grand slam titles during her illustrious career, has revealed that she would like to see more male players have the confidence to come out in the future.
“I would certainly like to see more players come out,” she told Laureus. “I can’t believe that there is never been a male player that has taken that step. But with each passing celebrity coming out or athlete, it becomes less of a big deal and that’s eventually what we want it to be, for it not just to matter.”
Navratilova went on to argue that changing attitudes toward the LGBT community mean that a player’s sexuality no longer matters in terms of lucrative sponsorship deals, which could have previously been a legitimate reason for a male player to remain in the closet.
“I think times have changed and it doesn’t make any difference financially, I think athletes are still – the endorsements or people treating the player differently – if anything, it helps now and I think it’s changed quite a bit. I don’t think players will have to go through anything like what I went through 30 years ago.”
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