Professional Brazilian tennis player Joao Lucas Reis da Silva has come out as gay in a post on Instagram.
The 24-year-old tennis player, one of the first on the ATP Tour, revealed on the social media platform that he’s in love with Brazilian actor and model Gui Sampaio Ricardo.
“Happy birthday, happy life, I love you very much,” wrote the tennis player in the caption.
The player is currently ranked just outside the world’s top 400 but has previously been as high as 259. He has reached at least one singles tournament final in each of his last three years on tour, but is yet to claim a victory.
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However, he has won a doubles title, having partnered with countryman Pedro Boscardin Dias in Santiago, Chile, in March 2023.
Boscardin Dias is one of several fellow tennis players to have commented supportively on Reis da Silva’s Instagram post.
The current Brazilian No. 1, Thiago Monteiro, wrote “Wonderful” alongside love heart emojis, while Gustavo Heide, Mateus Alves, Gilbert Klier, Eduardo Ribeiro and Ana Candiotto also reacted positively.
Meanwhile, one of the country’s best-known out gay athletes — gymnast Diego Hypolito, who is a former world champion who won an Olympic silver medal at Rio 2016 — also liked the post.
