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Still, there are those who are hoping for a male version of Navratilova, who was so utterly dominant during much of the 1980s that the fans, the press and fellow players had no choice but to accept her for who she was.

“I personally couldn't see what was wrong with being gay,” Navratilova said to AfterEllen.com. “I never saw being gay as a negative. I did see it as a difficulty, but I was ready to fight the good fight.”

When Mauresmo, the reigning Wimbledon and Australian Open champion, made it to her first grand slam final in Australia in 1999, she was upfront and honest about being a lesbian and having a girlfriend. But the situation became somewhat difficult for her when Martina Hingis, then the top-ranked player, made the infamous comment that Mauresmo was like “half a man.”

To add insult to injury, Hingis managed to beat the then 19-year-old Mauresmo in straight sets to win the title. But Mauresmo's sexuality was pretty much a nonissue after that, with much more focus being paid to her inability to win a major. Now that, too, is no longer an issue.

“Mauresmo has come out and been very successful,” says Buzinki. “You have [to have] the mental makeup for that and accept some possibly negative reactions. All it would take would be for a player like Roger Federer to be supportive. I'd assume younger players like Andy Roddick wouldn't have a problem with it.”

Billie Jean King agrees that support from top players in tennis or any other pro sport is crucial. “We need straight guys to say, ‘It doesn't matter, nobody cares. He's a great ballplayer, we love him, and leave him alone.' You need a couple of quarterbacks who would do that because they are usually the leader of the team. They have to say, ‘It's going to be all right.' If the straight guys don't support them, it's a tough road.”

That support has long been there on the women's tour, as King learned first-hand in the early '80s when she was outed by a former lover who sued the then-married champion for palimony. The suit was dismissed and King, by then in her late 30s, returned to the tour for a few more years, enjoying tremendous fan and player support. “The women really got along well,” King says. “ Chris Evert, she's always been a great friend. She never cared, and I think that helps.”

Veteran player Renee Stubbs, the former No. 1-ranked doubles player in the world, also enjoyed strong support from fellow players, including close friend Stefanie Graf, winner of 22 grand slam singles titles.

“I think it's a little more accepted for female athletes,” Stubbs says. “But it's a stigma attached to female athletes, which is an unfortunate thing because a lot of them aren't [gay]. The ones who have come out, like myself, it's not such a huge story. But there hasn't really been a high-profile male who's come out, and that's a shame. I'd love to see any male athlete who's well-known come out, but it's their choice. When you're trying to play a high-profile sport for a living, you don't necessarily want to deal with all of that as well. But since I've come out, I've had great support from people.”

Bean, a former member of the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers who cut his playing days short in order to live life as an openly gay man, understands the pressures male professional athletes feel and believes people have to have patience and compassion. “None of us start in the same place and time,” he says. “When I was in a position emotionally to make it happen, the relief of living honestly and being able to give my family and friends and people I care about the opportunity to know me completely — it was just really empowering."

Still, no one seems to have a sense of whether any male tennis pro is seriously considering coming out of the closet. “I don't know if we're close,” King says. “It all depends on whether he is ready to go.”

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