In an interview published on Wednesday 8th July, Ukraine tennis player, Sergiy Stakhovsky – who is famous for knocking Roger Federer out of Wimbledon 2013 – said he would not let his daughter play tennis as “almost every other” female tennis player is a lesbian.

In the interview, he was asked if there was any sexual minorities in tennis, he replied: “I think not.”

According to a translation by letsecondserve.com, he continued

You see, on the ATP we have a normal atmosphere. If there were anything, we’d know about it, because it’s a very closed circle.

Earlier there used to be talk about Gasquet, about Nadal. Even about Federer.

I won’t sacrifice my hand for the whole tour and the new guys, who are just joining, but in the backbone of the top 100 there are definitely no gays.”

He then drew attention to female tennis legend, Martina Navratilova, who said earlier this year that she couldn’t believe no male tennis players are gay.

She can think that in the women’s locker room. She has no clue at all what men’s tennis is. And she’s has nothing to do with it. On the WTA tour, almost every other player is a lesbian.

Can you imagine – half of them!

So I for sure won’t send my daughter to play tennis.”

Also read: Homophobia in Sports: When Poor Sportsmanship Becomes a Problem

Shorty after the outing of her on-court rival Billie Jean King, Navratilova followed King’s suit by revealing her sexual orientation in a column in the Dallas Morning News. Unlike King, Martina came out on her own terms, setting a precedent for many LGBT athletes to come.