Australian Open: Grand Slam event stages first Pride Day at Melbourne Park

As darkness fell on Melbourne, the outside shell of Rod Laver Arena illuminated in rainbow colours.

It was a symbolic move on the Australian Open's first official Pride Day, and provided the most eye-catching moment of Monday's event.

Celebrating the LGBTQ+ community and aiming to improve inclusivity within tennis, it provided splashes of colour across Melbourne Park all day.

Most importantly it continued to raise awareness about the issues still faced by those who identify as LGBTQ+ and educating those who don't.

Rowen DSouza is the tournament director of Glam Slam, an event being held at the Australian Open for LGBTQ+ players, and he has been working closely with Tennis Australia on its Pride Day.

«I think tennis is a sport which has an opportunity to do so much more in LGBTQ+ inclusivity and promotion than other sports,» he told BBC Sport.

«AO Pride made me feel very proud and really happy. It gave me great joy.

»What AO Pride is also about is the wider tennis community, engaging people, groups and stakeholders who wouldn't usually see tennis as a viable option to come and watch.

«Our community hasn't always been made to feel welcome at tennis. It wasn't necessarily where LGBTQ+ people were openly participating.»

Many past and present female players are openly gay — including multiple Grand Slam winners Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova — but no top-level male player has publicly come out while playing.

DSouza says it remains «a complex issue» for an active male player to announce they are gay.

«That would be great, of course. But we have the issue where if you came out as LGBTQ it will affect your career now and it will affect your post-playing career,» he said.

«There are still countries like Saudi Arabia and Singapore