admin This was supposed to be Nick Kyrgios’s year. The tennis star opened 2022 by nabbing his first major doubles title close to home, at the Australian Open, with compatriot and good friend Thanasi Kokkinakis. He followed that up with an epic run to the Wimbledon finals, where he fell to Novak Djokovic in four sets. Over the course of 10 months, he jumped from 137th in the world to 22nd. But a slew of injuries have disrupted that momentum, with Kyrgios missing this year’s Australian Open, French Open, and Wimbledon. And just last week, Kyrgios announced that a lingering wrist injury will keep him out of this year’s US Open, too, capping off a season with a total of zero Grand Slam appearances.
“It’s been a rough year with injuries,” Kyrgios says, “but that’s life. I’m obviously upset, but I’m still working hard, going to the gym every day, just trying to get my body right. And I’m doing heaps of stuff off the court as well, which is cool.”
Coolest of them all, perhaps, depending on your age and general interests: the ginormous Pokémon-themed tattoo that seemingly appeared overnight on Kyrgios’s back and made headlines across the world. We got on the phone with Kyrgios to talk about it in grave detail.
GQ: How long have you been wanting to get a Pokémon tattoo? How long has that been on your mind?
Nick Kyrgios: Honestly, ever since I got my right arm covered in NBA players. I love Pokémon, bro. It’s a big part of my life, a big part of my childhood. I still play it pretty much every day.
I’ve been thinking about getting some Pokémon work for a while now. I’m heavy into anime and love Pokémon. So, then I came up with this mad design with one of my artists in Australia and then I went over to LA. I was there for work, but then I met one of the best tattoo artists in the world, Ganga. He’s done LeBron, Post Malone, Lil Uzi Vert, Tyga. I went to his studio and he saw the design. He was basically saying, “I want to do this design. We’re doing it here.”
It’s a noticeably Gen 1 heavy tattoo, with some of the most beloved of the original 150 Pokémon featured. Is that your favorite generation of Pokémon?
Yeah, I’d say Gen 1’s probably my favorite. Gen 1 I feel like is the most iconic, as well. When people see (the tattoo), they know who every single one of those Pokémon are, pretty much. I was going to have some more gens in it, but then I really looked at the design and I was like, Look, I’m just going to get some of my favorite Gen 1 Pokémon. I mean, a lot of thinking went into it too, bro.
I was going to ask, was there a specific reason behind the Pokémon you selected? Is it representative of your ideal Pokémon team? Your ideal lineup?
Yeah, 100 percent. Blastoise is smack bang in the middle. He’s my favorite Pokémon. And then obviously Charizard, Gyarados. Can’t really go past those. I feel like worldwide, if people know Pokémon, they know who those Pokémon are.
A notable absence right off the bat, though: no Venusaur. You have the other two Gen 1 starters covered, but why no love for the grass king?
Venusaur is tough. I like him. But I think the other Pokémon I have on my back are way better than Venusaur, in my opinion. Gengar, fucking Alakazam, Mewtwo. I love Lapras, as well. Lapras is lit. So, yeah. No Venusaur, man. That’s how it is.
You mentioned that originally you were thinking of including some Pokémon from other generations in the design—any specific Pokémon who just missed the cut?
Lugia, definitely. I love Lugia. And I love Ampharos, bro. I was going to put Ampharos on there, but not many people know him, so I didn’t. And then probably Tyranitar.
