The normally lush-locked Carlos Alcaraz debuted a buzz cut at the U.S. Open on Monday ― and got a winning reception when the No. 2 seed polled the crowd about it.
First, let’s look at Alcaraz’s ’do from about a week ago:
Matthew Stockman via Getty Images
And here’s Alcaraz addressing fans after his straight-set dismantling of Reilly Opelka on Monday in the first round.
But the Spanish heartthrob didn’t intend to look like a soldier off to basic training. He said the head shave was the result of a botched job by his brother, who was filling in for his regular barber.
It sounds like bro got too frisky with the clippers.
“My brother just — he misunderstood with the machine,” Alcaraz explained, per The Guardian. “He just cut it. Then, the only way to fix it was just to shave it off. To be honest, it’s not that bad, I guess.”
“Some people like it, some people don’t like it,” the five-time Grand Slam singles champ added. “To be honest, I’m just laughing about the reaction of the people. It is what it is. I can’t do anything else right now, so I’m just laughing about everything they are saying about my haircut.”
Count Frances Tiafoe, the No. 17 seed, in the negative camp.
“I don’t know who told him to do that, but it’s terrible,” the American player said. “From a guy who gets haircuts week in, week out, who prides myself on good haircuts, it’s horrendous.”
Alcaraz laughed off the lighthearted criticism.
“I know he’s lying,” Alcaraz said with a smile. “He likes the haircut.”