“He’s My Friend”: Nick Kyrgios Reveals How Carlos Alcaraz Helped Him Get His Back Tattooed With Pokemon

Nick Kyrgios may be out of action due to multiple injuries, but that hasn’t stopped him from enjoying life to the fullest. He recently got himself inked with a Pokemon tattoo fully on his back. The Australian star’s pictures have gone viral online. And World No.1 Carlos Alcaraz apparently helped Nick Kyrgios in getting the tattoo from the renowned Ganga Tattoo Studio in Los Angeles.

Impressed after seeing Ganga’s work on Instagram, Kyrgios contacted him and got himself inked amidst his other commitments in LA. The Australian was thrilled at the prospect of getting inked from the same person who also has LeBron James in his clientele amongst top American celebrities.

Carlos Alcaraz helps Nick Kyrgios out

Nick Kyrgios has claimed on a few occasions already that he is a huge fan of animated characters, with his favorite being Pokemon. The mercurial Aussie has been often spotted posting on Pokemon on his social media feeds, giving fans some insights into his mind and likes and dislikes.

In an interview with GQ, Nick Kyrgios talked about posting on his Instagram story recently, with a question for his followers – ‘Anybody know of a good tattoo artist in LA?‘. Alcaraz had seen the story and responded to Kyrgios, recommending him to go to Ganga, the tattoo artist who happens to hail from the same village as the World No.1 in Spain. Kyrgios couldn’t believe that the best in the business of tennis and tattoos both grew up together. The 20-year-old said to Kyrgios, “He is my friend.”

About the Pokemon tattoo and his experience, Nick Kyrgios was quoted as saying in the interview –

“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.”

“I looked at Ganga’s page. I was like, Alright, this guy’s obviously really credible. I went to his studio and I showed him the design. He changed a flight. He canceled his flight and he said, “I’m doing it tomorrow. We’re organizing it all.

“I had six guys on my back at once and it was wild, man. It was the quickest process ever. Before I knew it, I had a full back tattoo of my favorite Pokémon. It was pretty elite.

“It was only seven-and-a-half hours, and it was probably one of the most painful things I ever sat through. The first three hours of it were diabolical. My whole back was shaking. My right arm was so tense. I couldn’t straighten it because I was tensing up so hard. It was hard, but it was definitely worth it, man. I look at it now and when I see it, I’m like, It’s definitely something that I don’t regret at all.

Does Alcaraz have tattoos?

So far, Carlos Alcaraz has two tattoos in his body. He inked his first tattoo in LA on his left wrist after his title win in the Miami Masters last year. Carlos Alcaraz’s grandfather, Carlos Alcaraz Lerma has a motto which the Spaniard uses for success in tennis and life. It goes as – Cabeza (head), Corazon (heart) and Cojones (courage), which Alcaraz basically refers to in English simply as the 3 ‘C’s of motivation.

His second tattoo was inked after he won the US Open 2022, with the date 11/09/22 written on his right arm. Alcaraz seems to have a lot of knowledge and interest in tattoos and this is something that could help him in bonding with players such as Kyrgios.

About the author

Dhruv Rupani

Dhruv Rupani is a Tennis Editor at The SportsRush. He is a tennis tragic in every sense and would go to any length to defend it against anyone if compared negatively to other sports. A huge Rafael Nadal supporter, Dhruv believes tennis is very much like life in most aspects. He started following the sport at the age of 10. Translating his love for sports into a living, he has over 8 years of experience in the digital media space. He aims to entertain and educate people about sports by presenting the best updates to them. When not covering tennis, Dhruv loves to spend time watching comedy shows and movies, reading inspiring books and doesn't mind trying his hand at cooking sometimes!

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