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Mika Brunold of Switzerland has come out as gay. (Michele Maraviglia\/NurPhoto via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Mika Brunold of Switzerland has come out as gay. (Michele Maraviglia\/NurPhoto via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Rising Swiss tennis <\/a>player Mika Brunold has come out as gay in a heartwarming message posted to Instagram.<\/p>\n The 21-year-old took to Instagram on Sunday (30 November), writing that he\u2019s learned a lot through devoting \u201ccountless hours\u201d to working on his game, body and mindset.<\/p>\n \u201cThrough all of this, one of the most important things I\u2019ve learned is that success on the court isn\u2019t just about physical skill \u2013\u00a0it\u2019s about discovering your personality and staying true to yourself,\u201d he began the message.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m proud of who I am today\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIve been thinking a lot about how to talk about this. And while it hasn\u2019t always been easy, hiding it and pretending to be someone I\u2019m not was never an option.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s why I feel it\u2019s time for me to open up and share with you that I\u2019m gay,\u201d he wrote.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Swiss star continued: \u201cBeing gay doesn\u2019t mean loving the same gender \u2013\u00a0it also means dealing with things most people never have to think about. The fear of not being accepted, the pressure to stay quiet, the feeling of being different. But I\u2019ve grown. And I\u2019m proud of who I am today.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n He shared that he decided to share the statement with the world \u201cto take a step for myself, but also because I think it\u2019s not talked about enough in sports\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n Brunold added that in an \u201cideal world\u201d no one would need to \u201ccome out at all\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n His post has been flooded with positive comments, with fellow tennis player David Chen writing that it takes \u201cimmense self-love, and undeniable bravery to come out in the middle of a tennis career\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n Others thanked him for sharing his truth and vowed to be there to support him through his journey.\u00a0<\/p>\n Brunold mostly features on the Challenger Tour and reached the semi-finals of the Nottingham Challenger in January, before losing to Henry Searle. He also reached the semi-finals at the Royan Atlantique Open in June, before losing to Dimitar Kuzmanov.\u00a0Brunold has featured at the Swiss Indoors in October. He is yet to appear at a Grand Slam.<\/p>\n This year\u2019s final Grand Slam saw several gay players leading the way for LGBTQ+ representation in the sport<\/a>, induing Russia\u2019s Daria Kasatkina.\u00a0<\/p>\n However, despite the Women\u2019s Tennis Association tour making way for more inclusivity, the men\u2019s Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) tour continues to lag way behind. Until last year, there were no out gay male players on tour, nor had there been since the Open era began in 1968.<\/p>\n