Carlos Alcaraz’s new haircut generated as much attention as his tennis at the US Open, where he kicked off his campaign with a testing straight-sets win.
The world No. 2 walked onto Arthur Ashe Stadium, showing off his new look: a shaved head. A somewhat unexpected move by the Spaniard, who once brought his barber to Paris to cut his hair. However, New York was too far for him to travel. Instead, Alcaraz relied on the handy work of his brother.
“I felt like my hair was really long already, and before the tournament I just really wanted to get a haircut,” Alcaraz told reporters.
“Suddenly, just my brother just — he misunderstood with the machine. He just cut it. Then the only way to fix it is just to shave it off.
“To be honest, it’s not that bad, I guess.”
Alcaraz’s new look has certainly triggered a wide range of views, with one of the most notable being that of fellow player Frances Tiafoe, who described it as ‘definitely terrible’ and took the opportunity to poke fun at him in a light-hearted way.
“Frances is lying,” the former world No.1 jokingly responded.
“He showed up here saying that it is terrible. I know he’s lying. I know he likes the haircut. He likes it. He told me.”
On the court, Alcaraz began his quest for a sixth Grand Slam title with a 6-4, 7-5, 6-4, win over fast-serving Reilly Opelka, who hit 14 aces. He didn’t drop serve throughout the entire match and produced a total of 23 winners against 17 unforced errors. He is now 19-0 in opening matches at Grand Slam tournaments so far in his career. A benchmark that has only previously been matched by Bjorn Borg and Rafael Nadal in the Open Era.
“Opelka is such a tough opponent, a big server. He doesn’t let you go to rallies. It was difficult for me to get the good rhythm and the good feeling from the baseline,” Alcaraz reflected.
“I just tried to return well, playing as long a point as I could and tried to get a good rhythm and feeling.
“It was a difficult first round, but overall I was really happy with the way that I managed everything.
“Tomorrow I will try to practice a little bit to get more rhythm.”
Besides a major title at stake, the 22-year-old is also closing in on dethroning Jannik Sinner from the top of the standings. To do so, he needs to either reach the same round as the Italian or outperform him in New York.
However, Alcaraz insists he is not focusing on his points tally.
“I’m trying not to think about the rank of the No.1 spot. I’m just trying to go as far as I can in this tournament, play my best tennis, and let’s see how it’s going to be at the end of the tournament.” He concluded.
In the second round, Alcaraz will play Mattia Bellucci in what will be their first Tour-level meeting.
