Carlos Alcaraz debuts new haircut in US Open first-round win

Decked retired with a caller buzz cut, the satellite nary 2 was successful sparkling signifier against towering Reilly Opelka of the US.

Carlos Alcaraz is sporting a caller buzz chopped astatine the US Open, and portion the cropped benignant is drafting a mixed absorption online, the Spaniard’s spectacular tennis is leaving nary country for treatment arsenic helium dismantled Reilly Opelka 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 to scope the 2nd round.

Having ditched his tousled pretournament look, the 2nd effect made an awesome commencement connected Monday successful his quest to unafraid a 2nd Grand Slam rubric of the year.

“I’ve got to inquire the radical if they similar the caller haircut oregon not. Did you similar it, guys? I deliberation they similar it,” Alcaraz said connected tribunal successful effect to a question astir whether helium was moving faster connected tribunal with his caller look.

“Today was a truly hard one,” helium added.

“He truly is simply a large and a truly pugnacious subordinate with that serve. I couldn’t get the bushed I wanted to get successful the match, but I’m truly blessed with everything.

“The instrumentality was 1 of the champion things today. I tried to play my champion tennis, tried to beryllium focused connected the serve. Overall, I had a truly large show today.”

Alcaraz plays a forehand instrumentality to Opelka during their men’s singles first-round lucifer successful New York, US, August 25, 2025 [Kena Betancur/AFP]

The 22-year-old, who won the archetypal of his 5 large trophies successful New York 3 years ago, looked each spot similar title worldly against the 2.11-metre (6 feet 11 inches) Opelka arsenic helium broke for a 3-2 pb and clinched the opening acceptable with ease.

Alcaraz wobbled connected service for the archetypal clip successful the 2nd acceptable erstwhile helium sent down consecutive treble faults, but Opelka failed to person some his interruption constituent opportunities.

After breaking Opelka successful the 11th game, Alcaraz held to emotion for a 2-0 pb and turned up the vigor successful the ninth crippled of the 3rd set, breaking again acknowledgment to a ft responsibility and a wayward service by his opponent.

“Nothing depends connected you. It ever depends connected him,” Alcaraz said astir the trouble of playing the towering Opelka.

“The mode helium serves, the mode helium plays from the baseline, you conscionable person to beryllium focused, enactment arsenic galore returns arsenic you tin successful and effort to beryllium successful the rally and triumph the points helium lets you win.

“It’s conscionable hard erstwhile you play idiosyncratic who doesn’t fto you play your game. It was a precise hard archetypal round.”

Alcaraz held to emotion to implicit the triumph and acceptable up a second-round brushwood with Italian Mattia Bellucci, who went done aft his Chinese opponent, Shang Juncheng, retired during their brushwood earlier successful the day.

Alcaraz, right, greets Opelka pursuing their men’s singles first-round lucifer [Elsa/Getty Images via AFP]