American tennis player Lendale Johnson is the sport’s first out gay professional

Words Markus Bidaux

Photography Laura Barisonzi

S peaking to the softspoken Lendale Johnson, you would think butter wouldn’t melt, but this  boy can serve shade when it comes to homophobes. As the first out gay man on the men’s tennis circuit, he is making a racket both on and off the court. Now 34, he has started his own tennis academy teaching celebrities in New York, and his very own reality show, Dueces and Love, premieres this year. Here, Lendale discusses the wise words of tennis legends, homophobia in the gentleman’s sport and the financial realities of being a professional athlete.

When did you first start playing tennis?

About the age of three, it was kind of funny, though, because my family really have a basketball vibe — it’s all about the NBA players. There were literally basketball courts and tennis courts right next to each other in Kalamazoo, Michigan [where I grew up]. My family would go play basketball and I picked up on tennis. It was definitely an impoverished area, so the tennis courts were almost ruined.

What inspired you to continue playing tennis?

In middle school, I got a scholarship through USTA, the United States Tennis Association. The sport is financially elusive — even the racket is between $100 to $200, which is a lot of money. Luckily for me, I ended up getting a scholarship and they paid for my tennis training in Kalamazoo.

It’s what I wanted to do and tennis helped me identify my core values. I always felt so different; I grew up in a predominantly white school, so tennis was my outlet to do something that I love. And it really just took me away  from the social issues and pressures I was dealing with — white privilege, racism, homophobia, you know, that I dealt with all the time, every day.