NEW YORK (Reuters) - Carlos Alcaraz has revealed the new cropped hairstyle he is sporting at the U.S. Open was the result of his brother mishandling the clippers when he wanted a quick trim before the tournament.
The buzz cut was the talk of Flushing Meadows on the second day of the championships on Monday as the second-seeded Spaniard dismantled Reilly Opelka 6-4 7-5 6-4 to ease into the second round.
"I felt like my hair was really long already, and before the tournament I just really wanted to get a haircut," the 22-year-old told reporters.
"Suddenly just my brother just -- he misunderstood with the machine. 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."
Alcaraz flew his barber Victor Martinez from Spain to Paris earlier this year to give him a more fashionable fade cut midway through the French Open but said New York was too far for a similar intervention.
The new style had divided opinion, the French Open champion added.
"Some people like it, some people don't like it," he said.
"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."
Alcaraz said he was unsure if his new streamlined style made him faster on court but said it would all be academic in a few days given how fast his hair grew.
"Every time that I get a haircut, in two or three days it's gone," he said.
"In three days you're going to see another hair(style)."
Among those critical of the new trim was American world number 17 Frances Tiafoe, who, despite sporting a close-cropped style himself, described Alcaraz's new haircut as "horrendous".
"Frances is lying. Frances is lying," laughed Alcaraz. "No, come on? 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."
(Writing by Nick Mulvenney; Editing by Peter Rutherford and Ros Russell)
