Who Are the Gay Tennis Players at the 2025 French Open?

The 2025 French Open, also known as Roland Garros, began in Paris on Sunday, 25 May. As the second Grand Slam of the year gets underway, several openly gay players are proudly representing the LGBTQ+ community in professional tennis.

Women’s tennis has long led the way in LGBTQ+ visibility, thanks to legends like Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova. Today, a number of stars on the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) tour continue that tradition. In contrast, the men’s tour has only recently started to see progress in this area.

João Lucas Reis da Silva Makes History

In December 2024, Brazilian tennis player João Lucas Reis da Silva became the first active male professional to come out as gay during his career. He shared the news on social media while celebrating his partner’s birthday.

Although he’s not currently ranked high enough to compete at Grand Slam events like Roland Garros, his coming out marked a huge step forward for men’s tennis.

Before Reis da Silva, the only known gay male player was American Brian Vahaly, who came out in 2017 – a full decade after retiring. Vahaly later revealed that homophobic comments were common in the locker rooms during his playing days.

Out Gay Female Players Competing at the 2025 French Open

Daria Kasatkina (Australia, formerly Russia)

Kasatkina publicly came out in July 2022 and is now one of the most well-known LGBTQ+ athletes in tennis. In March 2025, she made the decision to switch from representing Russia to Australia due to political and personal reasons.

She has been vocal about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the country’s treatment of LGBTQ+ people. Kasatkina is in a relationship with Olympic figure skater Natalia Zabiiako.

“As a gay person who opposes the war, it’s not possible to go back,” she said in 2023. “But I don’t regret it, not even 1%.”

Greet Minnen (Belgium)

Greet Minnen once formed a high-profile couple with fellow Belgian player Alison Van Uytvanck. The pair made history at Wimbledon in 2019 as the first same-sex couple to compete in doubles. They were engaged in 2020 but split a year later.

Minnen is currently active on tour and ranked among the top 100 players.

Demi Schuurs (Netherlands)

Demi Schuurs is a doubles specialist and has reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open and quarter-finals of both Wimbledon and the US Open in doubles.

She came out as a teenager and has spoken openly about wanting to be a positive example for young LGBTQ+ fans.

“You only live once, so you have to be happy,” she told the WTA in 2020.

Nadia Podoroska (Argentina)

Podoroska, a former French Open semi-finalist, came out publicly in October 2022. She confirmed her relationship with fellow Argentine player Guillermina Naya in a heartfelt Instagram post.

Guillermina Naya (Argentina)

Naya, who has won titles on the ITF Circuit, was confirmed to be in a relationship with Podoroska in 2022. She has a career-high ranking of 533.

Emina Bektas (USA)

American player Emina Bektas broke into the top 100 for the first time in 2023. She is in a relationship with British player Tara Moore. The pair were also former doubles partners.

Tara Moore (United Kingdom)

Tara Moore is a former top-100 doubles player and was previously ranked 145 in singles. She is openly gay and currently in a relationship with Bektas. Moore was previously engaged to Swiss player Conny Perrin.

Conny Perrin (Switzerland)

Perrin has been ranked as high as 134 in the world. She spoke openly about the challenges and benefits of being in a relationship with another tennis player during a 2017