Martina wonders why there are no out gay men in tennis...

Outsports.com talked to Martina Navratilova about a wide range of things in an extensive interview. Since I had my own chat with Martina (pictured above at the 2006 U.S. Open with Andy Roddick and Roger Federer) a few weeks back, I am only going to excerpt the part where she talks why there has never been an openly gay male pro tennis player.

"I have no idea. I don’t personally know any who are gay, because none have come out to me," she says.
"Honest to God. I have suspicions, but I don’t know of one who’s definitely gay. I read that letter to Tennis magazine [in 1994] from an anonymous male player who said “thank you because we’re not all as brave as you are,” but I don’t know who they are. But I don’t know why. It can’t be because they’re all worried about endorsements, because most of them don’t get any anyway. And now, perhaps they’d get one because they are gay. It’s funny. I understand it in team sports because it can become a negative if the coach or the front office is homophobic and you might not get to play; let alone that your opponents might come after you. But in tennis, nobody can stop you from playing because of your sexuality or if someone doesn’t like you. If your ranking is good enough, you get to play. It’s very simple. So I don’t know why none have come out.

Outsports: It’s fascinating that none of them have approached you.
Martina: There were women I didn’t know were gay that I found out after. I would get a vibe from some players when I was playing. The ones who were very certain of their sexuality, one way or the other, were more friendly. And the ones who were less certain or were homophobic were not so nice. Or they were afraid that people would think they were gay because they were my friends. It’s kind of funny. Pam Shriver wrote a book about her life, where she was proclaiming her heterosexuality, and she is straight, because everybody thought that because she played doubles with me she must be gay. There was a Russian player who wanted to play with me but her father wouldn’t let her play with me because I’m gay. And at the time she was a nobody. He liked me, he’d say hello to me, but he would not let her play. It’s bizarre, I could have been a help to her. Now she’s off the tour because of injuries. But that’s unusual. I didn’t encounter much homophobia like that. But it is bizarre that players would be in the closet so much that I don’t even know who the guys are.

Outsports: How much money in endorsement deals do you think you lost over the course of your career because you were out?
Martina: Oh gosh. I don’t know. Maybe $10 million? A lot.

I covered this topic extensively in an article I wrote about a year ago called Men's Tennis: Where the Gay Boys Aren't I interviewed Martina, Billie Jean King, Billy Bean and others for the piece.

Give it a read!