With Wimbledon over and the U.S. hard court summer season getting underway, I have a post up at Bilerico-D.C. lamenting the continued lack of any out gay tennis pros on the men’s tour. This is, of course, the opposite of the women’s tour where, while not exactly an Olivia cruise ship, plenty of women are out -- and doing just dandy. As a plug, I’ll have an interview in next week’s Metro Weekly with Australian pro Rennae Stubbs, a prime example of a very successful pro player (6 Grand Slam doubles titles) who is simply matter-of-fact about her orientation.
Some men could learn some lessons from the women, here.
Anyhoo, I mention at Bilerico the habit a lot of us gay amateur players get into trying to guess which male players are gay and which aren’t. There’s rarely anything said directly about any player, though clues abound. For example, I recently caught a snippet of Murphy Jensen’s Tennis Channel show, Murphy’s Guide, where Jensen pretends to sneak into a party for Spanish player Tommy Robredo, only to be “thrown out” by the host...Reichen Lehmkuhl.
To be fair, hanging out in Reichen’s Los Angeles home is hardly definitive proof that one is a homosexual -- although it is fairly convincing proof that one is a bit of a douchebag.
Of course, Robredo is a Spaniard, and all the Spanish players -- Juan Carlos Ferrero, Fernando Verdasco, Feliciano Lopez -- with their manicured, stylish ways are sexually confusing to my American eyes and ears (and in the case of Verdasco I’m pretty sure I’m engaging in totally wishful thinking, but that’s not going to stop me). Anyway, male fashion instincts are no proof of anything: Roger Federer is both a clothes whore and Anna Wintour’s favorite pet, yet he has never set off even a ping on my gaydar, even when he’s carrying a gold lame gym bag.
And just in case you’re wondering why I’d be so enamored of Verdasco, well there’s this. Self-evident, I’d say.
Some men could learn some lessons from the women, here.
Anyhoo, I mention at Bilerico the habit a lot of us gay amateur players get into trying to guess which male players are gay and which aren’t. There’s rarely anything said directly about any player, though clues abound. For example, I recently caught a snippet of Murphy Jensen’s Tennis Channel show, Murphy’s Guide, where Jensen pretends to sneak into a party for Spanish player Tommy Robredo, only to be “thrown out” by the host...Reichen Lehmkuhl.
To be fair, hanging out in Reichen’s Los Angeles home is hardly definitive proof that one is a homosexual -- although it is fairly convincing proof that one is a bit of a douchebag.
Of course, Robredo is a Spaniard, and all the Spanish players -- Juan Carlos Ferrero, Fernando Verdasco, Feliciano Lopez -- with their manicured, stylish ways are sexually confusing to my American eyes and ears (and in the case of Verdasco I’m pretty sure I’m engaging in totally wishful thinking, but that’s not going to stop me). Anyway, male fashion instincts are no proof of anything: Roger Federer is both a clothes whore and Anna Wintour’s favorite pet, yet he has never set off even a ping on my gaydar, even when he’s carrying a gold lame gym bag.
And just in case you’re wondering why I’d be so enamored of Verdasco, well there’s this. Self-evident, I’d say.
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