Switzerland's Mika Brunold, ATP world No. 307, comes out as gay

Mika Bruold has something personal to share: The 21-year-old Swiss player, currently ranked No. 307 in the ATP rankings, came out as gay in a heartfelt Instagram post on Saturday.

The 6-foot-3 right-hander, the Swiss No. 6, wrote in a lengthy statement that he was coming out "to take a step for myself, but also because I think it’s not talked about enough in sports."

"I believe that in an ideal world, we wouldn’t even need to ‘come out’ at all," he wrote, adding: “I’ve been thinking a lot about how to talk about this. And while it hasn’t always been easy, hiding it and pretending to be someone I’m not was never an option."

Brunod is the second male tennis player to come out publicly in the last year. Brazil's Joao Lucas Reis da Silva shared photos of himself and his boyfriend to his Instagram account last December, becoming the first active, male tennis pro on the ATP tour to come out.

Read more: Brazil’s rising star Joao Lucas Reis da Silva making his mark on the Challenger Tour

Brunold is a rising prospect in Swiss tennis; he reached a career-high ranking of No. 289 in August, and plays primarily on the ATP Challenger Tour. He reached two semifinals this year as well as three other quarterfinals in Challenger events, and most notably, he had six match points against Reilly Opelka in a qualifying match in Basel, but lost.

But his message was received warmly by tennis pros including his fellow Swiss players Viktorija Golubic and Leandro Riedi, the WTA's No. 1 German Eva Lys, and International Tennis Hall of Famer Kim Clijsters. The Swiss tennis federation also left a supportive comment on Brunold's post.

"Success on the court isn’t about physical skill—it’s about discovering your personality and staying true to yourself," wrote the native of Winterthur, near Zurich.