To ink or not to ink? Tennis players and their tattoos
Jack London, an American novelist, journalist, social-activist and short-story writer, who mostly writes about the struggles for survival, once commented, “Show me a man with a tattoo and I'll show you a man with an interesting past.” Different people get tattoos for different reasons; some as an expression of their personality, some as an expression to a beloved, some as a form of body art. Whatever the reason may be, tattoos certainly give you an insight into a person.For a sport that many say is devoid of personalities, here are some shining examples of tennis players with tattoos and personalities. Presenting our list of 10 tennis stars with tattoos and the stories behind them.
#1 Stan Wawrinka
Just like you cannot separate Andre Agassi from his ‘image Is everything’ phase or Ana Ivanovic from her ‘playing tennis in a swimming pool’ story, Stan Wawrinka’s career will always be associated with his tattoo which has the words of Irish poet Samuel Beckett on his left forearm: “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.”
The fact that he beat Novak Djokovic after losing to him 14 times in a row only added to the poignancy of the quote for the Swiss champion.
When asked about the quote, Wawrinka said, “It’s my vision of my job and my life in general. In tennis, as you know, if you are not Roger or Rafa and Djokovic or Andy now, you don’t win so many tournaments and you always lose. But you need to take the positive of the loss and you need to go back to work. It’s that simple.”