The theme of the homosexuality in sports it is still a taboo subject despite being in the middle of the year 2021. Perhaps in the women’s circuit it will be carried more normally, thanks in part to all those players who have taken the step in favor of a cause that many others still prefer to hide to avoid certain comments. On the other hand, if we go to the men’s circuit, we will see that there are still several steps until reaching that normality. Greet Minnen he never had problems sharing the love relationship that binds him to his compatriot Alison Van Uytvanck but, just in case, he has written in Behind the Racquet how much it helped him to take this step to break free and show you who he is.
Late explosion
“I was never a player who stood out immediately, I was always a little slower than the rest. I think that everyone has to follow their own path and take time, not all of them are like Bencic or the other girls who already stood out a lot at an early age, in my case I had a very difficult transition to the professional circuit ”.
A hiatus at its best
“Before COVID arrived, I was 103rd in the world, but then it took me a lot to start from scratch, to find my level again. Entering the top100 is very important, I had focused a lot on that goal, everyone asks you when you are going to achieve it and how long are you going to stay afterwards. Sometimes it is difficult to deal with things like that, because they put a lot of pressure on you. In recent months I have been trying not to think too much about this, I just want to focus on the things that I have to do on the court and I want to continue that way. I feel like I’m a better player than last year, so I hope this award will come soon, and if not I will keep working until I get there. “
Her romantic relationship with Van Uytvanck
“We met in the Federation, we were both practicing there, and after a few years, we started trying more until it happened. For me it was a surprise because I had never had girlfriends before her, I could not say that I was interested in women for sure. My family had a hard time when I first came out of the closet, they were probably just as shocked as I was. After a while, they finally supported me. Alison’s family was great from the beginning, my friends too, they were all really supportive, even within the WTA circuit. They all helped make it easier. “
Play with your partner
It’s amazing every time we play doubles together, I really enjoy it. We have fun on the track, it’s simple, we are lucky to be able to do this together. When we lose matches we always have homophobic attacks, especially on Instagram, I imagine they are frustrated because they lose money and take it out on us. It is not pleasant to experience these things, but at least later on the track none of this happens to us. I am very happy about that ”.
And in the men’s wardrobe?
“I think it is a bit more difficult for men to come out of the closet, especially if they are athletes, I imagine they need to have that kind of ego to compete. I think they think that something like this could damage their image, but what they need is a role model, like we have. It would help a lot if a player came out and said: ‘I support this‘, just like Billie Jean King did for us. It really made everything a lot easier for us. “
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