Nick Kyrgios loves Pokemon. The Australian tennis star’s fascination for the iconic Japanese animated series came to light in 2016 after he shared some of his personal anecdotes involving Pokemon. Kyrgios now seems to have taken his admiration for Pokemon to a whole new level. The 28-year-old recently paid a visit to a tattoo artist in Los Angeles to get a huge piece of body art across his back. The massive tattoo depicts nine Pokemon creatures. “Studio days in LA,” Kyrgios wrote on Instagram.
As per reports, Kyrgios got the tattoo at the famous Los Angeles parlour, Ganga Studio, and four artists were involved in the process. The Pokemon character Blastoise dominated the central spot of the massive tattoo, while fans also spotted Charizard and Lapras in the two top corners. Alakazam and Mewtwo are also seen surrounding Blastoise. The dangerous-looking Gyarados is at the base of Kyrgios’ neck. Other Pokemons like Dragonite, Snorlax and Gengar also featured in his elaborate tattoo.
In 2016, Kyrgios confessed to playing the Pokemon Go mobile game. At the Rogers Cup in Canada, Kyrgios admitted to playing more Pokemon than even tennis. “Just quietly, how good is Pokemon Go. Honestly been playing that more than tennis,” the Australian wrote.
Coming back to on-court developments, the year 2023 has not been quite pleasant for Kyrgios. The seven-time ATP title winner hardly took part in competitive games this year having been out of action primarily due to injury issues.
Kyrgios pulled out of his home Grand Slam, the Australian Open, to undergo arthroscopic knee surgery. He could not return to action until June. Kyrgios featured in the Stuttgart Open last month but he had to concede a first-round loss to China’s Wu Yibing. Injury concerns forced him to pull out of the Halle Open as well.
Nick Kyrgios even failed to take part in the Wimbledon 2023 due to a wrist injury. Kyrgios was set to face Belgium’s David Goffin in the opening round of this year’s Wimbledon.
Despite possessing fine skills and scripting some major upsets over the years, Kyrgios has not yet been able to win a Grand Slam yet. His best performance in the Grand Slams occurred in July last year when he succeeded in reaching the final stage of the Wimbledon. Kyrgios’ Wimbledon 2022 journey ended with a final defeat against Serbian great Novak Djokovic. The match against Djokovic also marked Kyrgios’ maiden major final appearance.
