American journalist, broadcaster and host Nick McCarvel has a unique perspective on LGBTQIA+ representation and inclusion as a queer media personality himself.
Having worked at the Australian Open since 2012, he has become strongly connected to the tournament’s Pride initiatives as a host of the annual AO Pride launch event and breakfast, and the three-day Glam Slam – an officially-sanctioned GLTA event concluding on men’s singles final day.
McCarvel caught up with ausopen.com to discuss the evolution of AO Pride, and how the sport of tennis continues to be a space for queer fans to connect and thrive.
Ausopen.com: Maybe you can start by telling us a little bit about how you're involved with the AO Pride calendar of events each year?
Nick McCarvel: “Tennis Australia has felt really purposeful to me in how they've approached it. So the last few years we've done a Pride launch, which is always the Friday before the tournament – very ‘kick-off’ vibes, you've got drinks, the last two years it's been at the Courtside Bar, which has been so fun. We love it.
“Also the last couple of years we’ve had the AO Pride Ralph Lauren Breakfast. And then there’s Pride Day, and then you also have the Glam Slam. So you've got all of these different elements. And I think it really shows the intentionality behind what Tennis Australia is doing.
“I know that this is a space where they've walked the walk, not just talk the talk, which I think is really admirable and other people can look towards to see, okay, it's not just Pride Night and handing out glowsticks or rainbow wristbands. All those things are great, but what are we actually doing and what are we trying to achieve?”
How did you come to be involved specifically with hosting several AO Pride events?
“I've been part of the ‘extended family’ since 2012 when I first worked the AO. And in 2018, I’d sort of taken it upon myself to say, let's have a tennis discussion around pride just prior to the US Open – we did our first event in 2018 with Brian Vahaly and Casey Dellacqua.
“Then I connected with TA’s Luke Dennehy, who’s been an integral part of this whole process. The AO wanted to do a pride discussion, which has morphed into the pride launch. That first one was in 2019, and since then we’ve had guests like Rennae Stubbs, Jason Collins, Angie Greene from Stand Up Events, and we also had ATP player Kevin Anderson – who at that point was a top-20 player and had made a couple of Grand Slam finals – who came to speak about his experience as a straight player on tour and his reflections around the queer community and athletes, and how queer athletes have to navigate those spaces.”
As part of those AO launch events you've researched and prepared to interview figures who are Australian icons, but you might not have personally known that much about them. How has that experience been?
“It actually feels like such a blessing for me; I've sort of been the de facto host, which I'm honoured to be and do. Anyone from Andy Brennan to Ian Roberts to Danielle Laidley to Natalie Cook – honestly, those are people that I didn't know of previously. So for me to come in and feel like I'm a somewhat well-informed queer journalist in this space has been professionally rewarding.
“Ian Roberts last year blew everyone away with his story – playing NRL and just being this guy with an attitude that was like: ‘I don't have to subscribe to what you think is acceptable socially. This is who I am’. Compared to the NFL culture in the States; yes, we've had a few out players, but no one big name like Ian Roberts was with the NRL. That has just honestly opened my eyes, and it's been refreshing and inspiring to me to come across these stories that I wasn't quite aware of previously.”
Towards the end of the tournament, obviously the Glam Slam kind of caps it off – a three-day event with finals coinciding with men's final day. Fans can't necessarily come to the Pride launch or the Pride brunch, but the Glam Slam is open to Grand Pass holders. So what can they expect if they come?
“Well first, the Glam Slam is a damn good time. Professional sporting events are meant to be a fun, inclusive space, and the Glam Slam is really fun. Last year Destanee Aiava showed up as part of our celebrity match, which was awesome. And Ben Weekes, the wheelchair player, has come out and shared his sexuality with people, which is awesome.
“The drinks are flowing, there's great music. And then amateur players as part of the Glam Slam – a GLTA-sanctioned international event – we have two singles finals that day. It’s like a mini-Grand Slam for their own.
“You see the signage, you see the wearables. But I also think it's so important there's pride flags everywhere.”
You've been coming here since 2012. How has AO Pride, and inclusivity and visibility efforts at the tournament more generally, evolved over the years?
“Well, I even think about my first day here on site this year. I was walking in and a pride flag caught my eye among the Grand Slam flags and the Australian flag. That's cool to see it flying for the entire fortnight. And that makes me think back to, like you say, 2012. Honestly, I don't have any recollection of: Was there a pride activation? I don't think so. I don't remember, check the record. As working queer professionals here, we probably would have been aware of it.
“I'd say in the last five years it’s gone from zero to hero in terms of how they've activated, like we've talked about, with purpose. It's been really intentional working with someone like Dr Ryan Storr and the field work that he's done and the grassroots movement, those are all the little pieces – not just having a rainbow flag flying over the Australian Open.”
Around the time of that 2018 US Open event, in your role as a host and a queer journalist, you kicked off the #LGBTennis hashtag. What inspired you to do that?
“I think it's a double-edged sword where I feel like I don't really have a big platform, but I also work in this global space. Basically, the intention was to procure conversations that had meanings. And part of our modern world is digital conversations. And at that point, especially in that era, Tennis Twitter was strong and active. So it just felt like it was a way for people to latch onto it… trying to grow that into like a series, or what could hashtag #LGBTennis be?
“In 2019, we did the panel here, 2019 at Wimbledon. We had Billie Jean King, not only on the grounds of Wimbledon, but at the house of the chair of the AELTC board, who let us use his home to host that event. And Billie Jean was iconic, you know, in giving her time. Did an interview with CNN and The Telegraph, sharing what that event meant. And I think it can go down in history as the first pride-related event on the grounds of the All England Club.”
What is the state of that hashtag now?
“I think what's borne out of it is sort of in a different platform – different folks around the world have taken the reins themselves. You look at The Body Serve podcast; it's a gay couple and they're talking about their relationship and tennis and women's tennis and how it's iconic. And there's actually several different iterations, like The Gay Tennis Podcast.
“People in the last seven years they’ve taken the conversation into their different wings and have been like, oh, I want to have a voice, or I want to interview whoever this is, or I want to tell queer history in tennis. I know that The Tennis Podcast has done similar things.”
What has the experience been like working in sports media as an openly gay presenter, journalist and media personality? Is it a hospitable and inclusive space?
“It's definitely changed, because I've changed. I'd feel more comfortable in my skin than ever. I feel comfortable and confident, and less concerned about how I present. And I even watch myself sometimes on camera now, and I can see more of ‘me’. For whatever presenting role, you're always going to turn down the dial a little bit. But I can see, even watching Cinema Sessions this year, I'm like, oh, that's like just authentically me on the couch.
“I think it's a journey for any queer person, when they are in a sporting space that is heteronormative. It’s often led, especially in men's tennis, by a sort of like, macho, masculine presenting culture. That's still the dominant culture. It just is. And I find myself sometimes navigating those situations individually, but I'm always cognisant of, okay, so are you giving other people power in this moment, and why are you giving those people power? For what reason?”
We're coming towards the end of the tournament. What have you enjoyed most at AO 2025? What are some of the highlights of this particular edition for you?
“I've had the utmost honour of doing Cinema Sessions again this year. Getting everyone from Sabalenka to Sinner to Alcaraz to Djokovic to Coco Gauff to Maddie Keys to the legends. We just had Daniela Hantuchova, and honestly for me, as a queer person, as a gay man, getting to queen-out a little bit – like when Daniela took over, we pull up her first clip and it was her against Anna Kournikova at AO 2001. That takes me back to being the kid in Montana who was growing up watching these matches, and now I'm having these conversations. So that's just been great.
“And then I would say, I'm really excited for our AO Pride Brunch chat with Ian Thorpe, who is a national icon, plus Erin Phillips from AFL and Brian Vahaly, who will be a part of it – kind of full circle with Brian (back to the 2018 event in New York). Excited to have just another conversation.
“And there's pride in giving people another look at what we are trying to do. There's no end goal. It’s not: ‘We want X amount of players to come out. We want to take over with our pride flags’. It's literally just about making people feel more included and knowing that they have a home in tennis.”
