Game, set, tatt: tennis stars are a diverse bunch when it comes to their body art; from the philosophical to the familial. Touring the outside courts at Melbourne Park, tennis ink seems more popular with the women than men. No less than four female Grand Slam champions feature in our top 10 tennis tatts.
1. Li Na’s rose tattoo. China’s Grand Slamming trailblazer owns the most famous tattoo in tennis: a rose surrounded by a heart. Nothing to do with a tennis victory: Li had her decolletage decorated at age 19.
2. Bethanie Mattek-Sands’ floral sleeve. The No.3 American and outre fashionista - of multicoloured hair, black war paint and knee-high socks fame - subjected herself to several torture sessions to complete the body art on her inner right arm. Guess plaid outfits are out of the question in future.
3. Janko Tipsarevic: I think, therefore I ink. The newest member of the top 10 is quite the intellectual. Janko has a Dostoevsky quotation on his arm: ‘Beauty will save the world’. Not in the original Russian or his native Serbian, but Japanese.
4. Kim Clijsters: family first. The reigning Australian Open champ wears her devotion to family on her sleeve, or thereabouts. Inside Kim’s left wrist is her daughter’s name, Jada. Because she can’t play with a ring - hitting double-handed on the backhand - Kim has a wedding band tattooed around her ring finger.
5. Svetlana Kuznestova: armed and dangerous. On her inner left arm Kuze has inked in Russian: ‘Only God is our judge.’ Take that, tennis critics! High up on her inner right arm, in English, is: ‘Pain doesn’t kill me/I kill the pain.’ Sveta has called the trainer out enough times for fans to also spy a tiger tattoo on her front left hip.
6. David Nalbandian’s bull by the horns. Argentina’s iconic Guillermo Vilas - a two-time Australian Open champion in the 1970s - was nicknamed the Bull of the Pampas. Countryman Nalbandian has a bull’s head tattooed on his right shoulder. Guess that makes him the new bull.
7. Alex Bogomolov, raging bull. ‘Bogie’ is another to go with the bull motif, on his right shoulder. Chinese characters adorn the left shoulder.
8. Jarkko Nieminen’s Finnish fight. The pride of Finland and newly crowned Sydney winner, Nieminen has ‘sisu’ tattooed vertically down the left side of his chest. It’s a Finnish trait conveying strength through endurance - something like the Aussie ‘guts and determination.’
9. Kateryna Bondarenko’s angel wings. Australian Open doubles winner with sister Alona in 2008, the younger Kateryna has emblazoned wings of victory on her upper back.
10. Serena Williams’ heart of a champion. The tiny heart tattoo Serena has on the back of her neck is a very discreet play from the self-confessed diva.