Carlos Alcaraz is not going to shake Novak Djokovic out of his mind, at least according to tennis fans who ripped into his new haircut.
The Spaniard is currently competing at the Argentina Open, where he is the defending champion and won his opening match in the 2024 edition by beating Camilo Ugo Carabelli 6-2, 7-5. It was his first match win since leaving Australia.
Despite the perfunctory scoreline, Alcaraz was made to work for the win against the home player who had built some momentum from qualifying and defeated high-quality clay court opponents, including Juan Pablo Varillas, in the main draw.
The two-time Grand Slam champion had a familiar face in his coaching corner as Juan Carlos Ferrero returned to his customary seat to watch his protege in live action. But it wasn't the match that truly resonated with the fans; instead, it was the 20-year-old's fresh cut, which featured a skin fade.
Several tennis fans took to social media platform X to draw comparisons to Djokovic, with one asserting that he was "obsessed" with the World No. 1. It is no secret that Alcaraz has previously stated that the Serb wanders on his mind because he is always targeting to overtake him in the rankings.
"Alcaraz obsessed with Djokovic that he even had Djoker hair cut," one fan wrote. Another chimed in, "I mean he can’t go one single interview without mentioning the Djoker, so..."
But a pair of two tweets in support of Alcaraz was also evident that the two hairstyles were not the same. "I think Novak is too old to know what a skin fade is lmao," another user retorted. One fan believes that Alcaraz "had this cut before," and that was not the first time he had gone for this trim.
The buzz cut was a familiar hairstyle in 2022 when Alcaraz broke through by winning his maiden Grand Slam at the US Open. It was also that season where he defeated Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic en route to winning the Madrid Masters.
"Clay season is on .. Madrid 2022.. Nole saw flames coz if this haircut.. Haha," another user explained. The skin fade was discussed in the thread several times, with fans opining that the two hairstyles are not a match. "When has Novak ever had a skin fade like this? Similar yes but never that low to the sides."
Alcaraz will be hoping the new haircut will bring him a lot of luck because it has been over six months since he won a title on the ATP Tour. He will play Italy's Andrea Vavassori in the quarterfinal on Friday evening.
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