Greg Slade hopes he can inspire other gay men within tennis to feel comfortable being themselves after an overwhelmingly positive response to his coming out post.
The British wheelchair star took to Instagram ahead of the Australian Open to publicly reveal his sexuality, making him one of very few openly gay male professional tennis players.
Slade admitted he put out the post with some trepidation, but he has been hugely heartened by the reaction.
"Because there are so few of us in professional tennis, there were definitely times where I doubted whether I should be doing this," the 23-year-old told the Press Association.
"I doubted whether it was right for me, of course, because, across any sort of issue within society or any minority, it's always really difficult to be one of the first because actually you're going where so few people have been before.
"I was concerned about the reaction, potentially, from some people, I was concerned about would it go too big, would it blow up in my face and blow up my preparations for this event?
"Or was I doing myself an injustice by doing a bigger post, bigger announcement, because I'm not a very splashy person, so I thought, 'Is this the right thing for me'?"
On the response, he added: "There's been a couple of [negative] things here and there but there's always going to be.
"And actually, you're talking about a handful of people compared to literally thousands of people who have either reached out or liked it or seen it, or followed and offered their support. The reaction has been largely very, very positive. It's been really lovely."
Slade's announcement followed those of Brazilian Joao Lucas Reis da Silva, who played in Australian Open qualifying, and Swiss Mika Brunold.
It was Brunold's post on Instagram in November and the messages of support that followed that prompted Slade to follow suit.
"Seeing how positive the reaction was for him, it was really nice for me," said Slade, who won Paralympic silver in 2024.
"I recognised that I was in a privileged but also a very unique position as somebody who was playing grand slams, who could then speak out and was comfortable in doing so.
"I sort of had this epiphany, if you like, of 'I really should get on this. I really should do it now'."
Out male sports stars remain few and far between, with tennis no exception, and Reis da Silva, who is ranked 207, was the first to take part in Australian Open qualifying.
Slade has committed to working with Pride in Tennis - a British network for LGBTQ+ players, coaches, officials, volunteers and fans - to help aid the organisation's work in bringing greater awareness and visibility.
"Hopefully, as time goes on, issues like this will snowball until it becomes a non-issue," he said.
"So, if I can be an early part of that and I can help even just one person - it doesn't have to be a top-100 player, it doesn't have to be one of these big names or whatever, but I've had messages from people saying, 'Oh, I play in a club and I don't feel like I can be open with my club team members and your story is inspiring to me'. And that's why I'm doing it."
To higher profile professional players who may be unsure whether to come out, Slade's message is one of understanding and positivity.
"To those people, I would say, in your own time, if at all," he said. "You do what you want. I'd say the grass really is greener on the other side and I look forward to the day. I hope it will come soon.
"I'm sure it will come eventually where one of these guys makes the leap, and it just shows to everyone else that, actually, what you will find on the other side is love and support and friendship.
"I hope that, in many years to come, when I'm able to look back on my journey, my career, that I'm able to take pride in being part of that."
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