Interest
Tennis Star Kei Nishikori Gets Fan Art by Prince of Tennis Creator
posted on by Lynzee Loveridge
Kei Nishikori is one of the hottest players in tennis this year. He is the first player from Japan in history to make it to the Top 10 of the Emirates ATP Rankings and ranked fifth behind the likes of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. He's also the first Asian male player to reach a Grand Slam singles final. Besides distinguishing himself among some of the best tennis players in the world, Nishikori took home US$8 million in prize money and caught the attention of Japanese netizens. His quote after making it to the ATP quarterfinals, "There's no one I can't beat!" was one of the top internet buzzwords for the year.
He also caught the attention of luxury car company Jaguar and a certain manga artist, The Prince of Tennis' Takeshi Konomi. The 24-year-old Nishikori is the new brand ambassador for the Jaguar F-Type in Japan. While he already received his own Jaguar when he landed the job back in September, the company decided to name a variant after him after his performance. It was during the presentation of the "F Type Kei Nishikori Edition" car that Jaguar presented Nishikori with Prince of Tennis-style fan art as a gift from Konomi.
You can see the car reveal and Jaguar presenting Nishikori with the "Jaguar's Prince" artwork in the videos below. Takeshi Konomi appears to offer his congratulations in the second video.
Source: Oricon, AutoBlog, ATP, Tennis World USA
Update: Typo fixed. Thanks, pikopika
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