It’s the summer of tennis here in Australia, with the entire month of January jam-packed with tennis tournaments around the country, culminating in the Australian Open – the first Grand Slam of the 2023 season.
As a tennis fan and tattoo collector, I’ve begun to notice that there are actually several professional tennis players with visible tattoos. While the number is still small compared to athletes in other sports, it is interesting to see just how prevalent tattoos are becoming in all professional sports.
When it comes to tennis tattoos, however, I was rather disappointed during the research process for this list. To (rather loosely) paraphrase John McEnroe, you cannot be serious that there are so few title worthy tennis themed tattoos! However, now in 2025, this is beginning to change.
Hundreds of tennis tattoos exist, with some which the artists have aced and others that you could describe as an unforced error on the part of the person and their choice of artist.
Some of these tennis tattoos relate to the sport and others act as a tribute to a pet. Whether you want an all-out obvious tennis tattoo or a subtle ode to the sport, you should find some inspiration in these pieces.
The Tattooed Archivist 