Has French Tennis Star Fabien Reboul Come Out?
The sports world is abuzz with French tennis star Fabien Reboul having come out in an Instagram Stories post... or did he?
Reboul, who is ranked #54 globally for men's doubles in tennis, set hearts aflutter with a pair of photos of himself together with another French player, Maxence Broville. In one pic, the two — dressed identically in the clothing of Slade Toulousain, the tennis club to which they both belong — gaze into one another's eyes. In the other, the two share a passionate kiss.
Reboul provided the caption, "I did not fall in love with you, your love pushed me to it."
Twitter exalted over the images... but with a caveat.
"Looks like we (finally) have LGBTQ+ representation from an active ATP player 🏳️🌈" posted one Twitter user, though the post quickly added, "Note: nothing's been confirmed from either, but this could be a big step for men's tennis."
One tweet took a forensic approach to the image, casting doubt on the authenticity of the clench.
Another joked about how similar the two men appear, especially given that they are both wearing the same outfit.
Others took the post at face value... with all that it hinted.
Another Twitter user noted that the images could have simply been a matter of the two playing around, and compared it to a photo of French soccer players Kylian Mbappe and Olivier Giroud embracing on the pitch and sharing an adoring look after Mbappe scored two goals against the Polish team in the World Cup and secured a win that sent the French team to the quarterfinals.
That image from the World Cup, being hosted by anti-LGBTQ+ nation Qatar, triggered a flood of "bromance" memes on social media, News 18 noted.
But some on Twitter were only too happy to tie the two images together with a rainbow ribbon.
Hopefully, this is only the beginning of a beautiful story that sees more world-class athletes embracing authenticity.