Tennis great Billie Jean King threw out the first pitch at today’s game between the Philadelphia Phillies and Houston Astros. King has owned the Philadelphia Freedoms of World Team Tennis since 1974. (Elton John’s song “Philadelphia Freedom” was written in honor of King, his friend). King was introduced to the crowd as “one of America’s [...]
Posts under ‘Tennis’
Exclusive: Serena Williams on the set of ‘Drop Dead Diva’
Pro tennis legend Serena Williams guest stars on this season’s Drop Dead Diva on Lifetime, and Outsports snagged an exclusive photo of her with one of the show’s stars, Kate Levering. Williams plays a lawyer representing Brandy Norwood’s character in a custody case against law firm head honcho Jay Parker (Josh Stamberg). Fresh off his [...]
Caroline Wozniacki releases dance single, ‘Oxygen.’ Have some ready…
The WTA No. 6 player in the world, Caroline Wozniacki, has released a new dance single titled ‘Oxygen‘ (video below). It’s so good…it’s not even mentioned on her own Web site. Poor thing. Hopefully she’ll stick to tennis from here on out. Brace yourself… Hat tip to Deadspin. Share on Facebook
The Advocate names three athletes to their Hall of Fame: Kopay, Galindo and BJK
To celebrate its 45th anniversary this year, The Advocate has named one hero for every year the publication has been around. In a powerful statement about the importance of sports in our movement, three athletes are included in the list. Figure skater Rudy Galindo, one of the very few male athletes who came out during [...]
Martina joins Twitter, shows off her sense of humor…and ping-pong skeelz
Martina Navratilova’s image for years has been that of a hard, somewhat gruff tennis robot. When I talked with her several years ago, I found her to be incredibly friendly and warm; So it’s nice to see her letting her hair down on her new Twitter account. Not only has she posted about being the [...]
Martina Navratilova on this season’s ‘Dancing With The Stars’
Out tennis legend Martina Navratilova will be one of the contestants on this season’s ‘Dancing With the Stars,’ ABC has announced. I’ve gotta believe she has a good shot, with her athletic prowess and her work ethic. Though I wonder if the anti-LGBT attacks faced by Chaz Bono will line up against Martina…. She will [...]
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue features female models and three male athletes
The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue is out, and it again features lots of scantily clad female models. When we at Outsports get complaints that we feature shirtless athletes (like Gareth Thomas in his underwear), we always point to the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue as proof that “it’s not a gay thing, it’s a guy thing.” [...]
Martina Navratilova to Margaret Court: Don’t deny us same-sex marriage
Tennis great Margaret Court stirred controversy at this year’s Australian Open with his vocal opposition to same-sex marriage. She was taken to task by activists on the issue and by tennis legends Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova. As the event was ending this past weekend, Navratilova, right, wrote an open letter to Court that [...]
College tennis player comes out to “It’s Raining Men”
Brian Healey is captain of the men’s tennis team at Saint Michael’s College in Colchester, Vermont. By Brian Healey I came out to two of my best friends on one of Saint Michael’s most storied days of revelry. P-Day at Saint Mike’s is our answer to the traditional “Spring Weekend” before finals. It feels like [...]
Laura Robson wears rainbow hair ribbon at Australian Open
British tennis player Laura Robson wore a rainbow hair ribbon at the Australian Open on Sunday, and she was well aware that the gesture made a statement about equality for LGBT people. She said, according to The Guardian: “It was just a rainbow-coloured hairband,” Robson said. “I didn’t see anything about a protest today. I [...]
Gay activist wants ‘Margaret Court’ removed from Aussie Open. Tennis Australia responds.
Australian gay activist Kerryn Phelps wants anti-gay tennis legend Margaret Court’s (right) name erased from the Australian Open court that has hosted so many matches. She Tweeted earlier today: “How about changing the name of the Aust Open venue?” Tennis Australia released a statement today distancing itself from Court’s political and religious views while embracing [...]
Margaret Court converts homosexuals, is going to the Australian Open, and you can’t stop her!
The homophobia of tennis legend Margaret Court has been well-documented for years. Last year it came to the fore again as Australians struggle with the question of same-sex marriage; Court has been vocally opposed to it from the dais in her church. Now some folks have started a Facebook page advocating rainbow flags over Margaret [...]
St. Michael’s College athletics teams combine for awesome It Gets Better video
This is cool — players from the men’s and women’s basketball teams, men’s hockey team and tennis team have combined to produce an It Gets Better video for St. Michael’s College in Vermont. One of the editors of the video is Brian Healey, captain of the Purple Knights men’s tennis team, who says this: I’m [...]
Martina Navratilova and Billie Jean King fire back at Margaret Court’s anti-gay statements
Last week, tennis great Margaret Court lashed out against gay people and gay marriage; Her homophobia has become a lasting theme in her retirement. Out lesbians Martina Navratilova and Billie Jean King both returned fire this weekend. Navratilova told the Tennis Channel: Seems to me a lot of people have evolved as has the Bible, [...]
Renee Richards gets ESPN treatment
The documentary film ‘Renee,’ about transgender tennis player Renee Richards, will air tonight at 8pm as part of ESPN’s ’30 for 30′ documentary series. Richards was originally denied eligibility to play in the women’s U.S. Open in 1976; Her legal victory in U.S. courts winning the right to play is our #12 most important moment [...]
Moment #2: Martina Navratilova comes out
Part of Outsports’ series on our 100 most important moments in gay sports history. Tennis, 1981. You know her by one word: Martina. She is not only one of the greatest lesbian athletes of all time, not only one of the greatest tennis players of all time, not only one of the most important lesbians of [...]
Moment #3: Tennis great Billie Jean King outed
Part of Outsports’ series on our 100 most important moments in gay sports history. Tennis, 1981: On Aug. 12, 2009, Billie Jean King was at the White House with 15 other prominent Americans to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She was honored for her contributions to fights for gay and women’s rights. When she received [...]
Moment #12: Renee Richards wins right to play in women’s U.S. Open
Part of Outsports’ series on our 100 most important moments in gay sports history. Tennis, 1977. In 1976 the United States Tennis Association barred female transgender tennis player Renee Richards from playing as a woman in the U.S. Open. The issue at hand was a born-female rule, and the USTA said Richards would have to submit [...]
Who’s hotter in Armani underwear: David Beckham, Rafael Nadal or Cristiano Ronaldo?
David Beckham has been the poster child for athletes willing to strip down and show off their gorgeous bodies. Most notably he’s done it for Armani underwear. Now come new photos and videos of tennis great Rafael Nadal following Beckham’s lead…in nothing but his Armanis. We saw a batch of them before, but the latest [...]
Serena Williams loses badly, Novak Djokovic throws Rafael Nadal a curve ball
After a wet U.S. Open that left a bad taste in the mouths of some players, it was what came out of the mouth of a runner-up that has left many scratching their heads. As (28) Serena Williams was in the middle of losing the women’s final to (9) Samantha Stosur, 6-2, 6-3, in embarrassing [...]