Nick Kyrgios’ outlandish personality is probably as famous as – if not more than – his elite on-court performances, and as the Australian tennis star continues to make headlines, the completion of his most recent project looks to be his biggest yet.
Love him or hate him, Kyrgios is undoubtedly one of the most well-known athletes on the planet, coupling box-office tennis with a series of outbursts, the Australian personality has struck a divisive figure in recent years.
Long-term injuries have kept Kyrgios out of the biggest tennis tournaments of the year, hampering his progress on the court and the chance to build upon a career-high competing in last year’s Wimbledon final against the most decorated player of all time.
But his recent posts have set a certain Japanese anime fandom into a frenzy, as Kyrgios revealed the completion of his latest body art and the inclusion of some of the most popular characters ever created.
Kyrgios is reportedly a huge Pokémon fan – well you’d have to be to permanently ink nine of your favourite Pokémon the length of your body. The completed work released on social media features iconic characters such as Blastoise, Dragonite, Snorlax, Alakazam, Charizard, Lapras, Mewtwo and Gengar across the length of the 6ft 4 tennis pro.
WATCH Nick Kyrgios complete a full Pokémon back tattoo below.
The finished piece is a work of art; the level of detail and shading is top tier. But what else would you expect, considering Kyrgios’ new ink was designed by tattoo artists at the Los Angeles-based shop Ganga Tattoo Studio, whose celebrity clientele includes none other than NBA star LeBron James.
An avid Pokémon fan, Kyrgios joked to his 627,000 Twitter followers that he’s been playing so much Pokémon Go, that he’s even playing more than tennis. Whatever his hobbies, we just hope to see his new ink gracing the tennis court soon – it’s a good thing Wimbledon doesn’t have any rules about tattoos.