Carlos Alcaraz debuts striking new hair but still a cut above at US Open in New York

Sporting a new military style crew cut for his opener at the US Open, Carlos Alcaraz shocked the tennis world with his extreme new hair do but didn't with his result. He saw off Reilly Opelka 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 to move through to the second round.

With this US Open win, Alcaraz stays on course to try and dethrone Jannik Sinner from World No.1. The pair could meet in what is dubbed as a winner takes all. The US Open and World No.1 would both be on the line but next is Mattia Bellucci. He lost last year to Botic van de Zandschulp in straight sets so will look to stop a shock loss again.

Opelka as ever was at his serving best and hitting heavy in rallies earlier in order to give Alcaraz little to no chance to move. But Alcaraz's consistency from the baseline allowed him to absorb that and outlast the American. When it is on for Opelka, it is on but when it is solvable it is a solvable. Alcaraz created 11 break chances converting three and closed out the match in two hours and five minutes just before midnight in New York.

The Spaniard has a tour leading 55 wins and six titles and comes into the week having won Cincinnati albeit with a point to prove. He won the title but only due to Jannik Sinner retiring so will want to claim it fair and square this time if they face off in that highly anticipated clash.

Near perfect display, hair jury still out

In his win over Opelka too, he made just 17 unforced errors, won 50 out of 58 first serve points, he saved all three break points he faced, broke Opelka thrice and improved to 19-0 in opening rounds at Grand Slams. Definition of a polished display like his head some might say which he aimed to garner crowd approval for. Frances Tiafoe hilariously called it terrible when he was asked about it and certainly set eyebrows raising on social media on Tuesday. Usually he gets a haircut before a Grand Slam but this was give me a haircut and screw it take it all off in order to be more aerodynamic on the court.

"Well, today was a really difficult one, you know. Really, really, it’s a great and really tough player with that serve. I couldn’t get the rhythm that I wanted in the match, but I’m just really, really happy with everything I did today. I think the return was one of the best things I did. Then I just tried to play my best tennis, tried to be focused on the serve. Overall, I think I put in a really great performance today," said Alcaraz post match.

He also spoke about Opelka's serve saying what it's like to try and play him and how nothing then depends on you as a result. "Well, it’s, I mean… you feel like nothing depends on you. It always depends on him—on the way he serves, on the way he plays from the baseline. You just have to be focused, put as many returns in as you can, try to be in the rally, and try to win the points that he lets you play from the baseline. So it’s really difficult when you play against someone that doesn’t let you play your game. It was really difficult for a first round."

Asked about his haircut which some compared to a younger David Beckham, he got the crowd approval. "Yeah, I mean, I think it’s a new thing I got. I’ve got to ask the people if they like the new haircut or not. Did you like it, guys? I think they like it."

Match Statistics Opelka vs. Alcaraz