feature image photo of Greet Minnen by Daniel Kopatsch / Contributor via Getty Images; photo of Clive Brunskill / Staff via Getty Images
While many lament the end of summer, it has always been one of my favorite times of year, in large part due to the U.S. Open, which I have been watching for pretty much as long as I can remember thanks to my tennis-obsessed father. We’re in the midst of the second round of the major tournament this year, and things are heating up. I’ve already stayed up way past my bedtime to catch some of my favorite players in Arthur Ashe Stadium during primetime coverage, including Venus Williams, who secured a wildcard to enter this year’s draw at the age of 45. While she didn’t make it past that first round, it was incredible to watch her still command so much of the court at what’s considered a very advanced age for high-level pro tennis. She’s one of the greats, and I’ve been watching her at the U.S. Open probably since a single-digit age!
Today is official Pride day at the U.S. Open, and as Autostraddle’s resident Tennis Lesbian, I felt compelled to touch down on some of the LGBTQ+ happenings this year. In an exciting development, two openly queer women made it into the U.S. Open singles draw: Daria Kasatkina of Australia and Greet Minnen of Belgium.
Minnen was knocked out of the first round by Naomi Osaka, who named her glittery red Labubu “Billie Jean Bling” and who has been seving some of the most stunning looks at the U.S. Open in recent years. But Kasatkina is still in it, knocking Romanian player Elena-Gabriela Ruse out in the first round. She’ll play her second round match against Russian player Kamilla Rakhimova this afternoon.
Kasatkina used to represent Russia, where she was born, but in March this year she announced she would start playing for Australia, where she has moved. She has been outspoken against Russia’s occupation of Ukraine as well as anti-LGBTQ policies in her home country. “With everything going on in my previous country, I didn’t have much choice,” she told CNN of the decision to change her nationality. “For me, being openly gay, if I want to be myself, I have to make this step, and I did it.” She identifies as a lesbian and became engaged to her partner — professional figure skater Natalia Zabiiako — in June. They are extremely cute and often vlog together about life on the WTA tour. She’s currently ranked 18.
While Minnen is out of the U.S. Open after the first round, she put up a good fight against the dazzling Osaka. She has been out publicly since 2018 and used to be in a relationship with fellow WTA player Alison Van Uytvanck, but they called off their engagement in 2020. She’s now married to her partner Marie Diels. They got married not long before the U.S. Open, in mid-July. She’s currently ranked 72.
Tennis has had a long history of openly queer women, including Billie Jean King, who was at the forefront of the fight for equal pay in tennis. Men’s tennis lags, Joao Lucas Reis da Silva of Brazil becoming the first openly gay player on the ATP tour last year. He lost in the qualifiers at the U.S. Open last week.
And while I am indeed excited about the fact that there were two queer players in the women’s singles draw this year — the most there has been in a minute — I’d be remiss to not also acknowledge the sport’s ongoing trans issue, namely the fact that Martina Navratilova, a very vocal TERF, continues to have such a significant platform at the U.S. Open and in tennis in general. She has been a longtime commentator for the event, and this year she’s calling matches for the British sports network Sky Sports. Pro tennis has yet to really reckon with Navratilova’s transphobia, which is even aimed at recreational players. At Wimbledon this summer, she had a spot in the VIP box for the women’s finals, brushing shoulders with Billie Jean King, who has spoken in support of trans athletes.
Navratilova may have been one of the groundbreaking queer players in a different era of pro tennis, but her TERF rhetoric undermines that legacy and furthermore is detrimental to the sport as a whole. We can see this clearly in a story like Cammie Woodman’s, a trans rec player who was kicked off her league in Brooklyn after an opponent made a transphobic complaint. Pushing players like Cammie out of the sport is bad for the entire world of tennis, and given that professional tennis was so instrumental to the overall fight for gender equality across all sports, it’s especially devastating to see players like Navratilova continue to spread hate unchecked.
I want tennis to become more and more queer. I hope to one day report a lot more than just two openly gay players competing at the U.S. Open. But we will not get there by turning our backs on our trans siblings in the LGBTQ+ community.
