Carlos Alcaraz given brave new hairstyle by Alexander Zverev at Laver Cup
Alexander Zverev has given Carlos Alcaraz a brave new hairstyle before they get their Laver Cup campaign underway. The US Open champion gave his Spanish counterpart a topknot in London.
Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have been the dominant forces in men’s tennis having recently won nine consecutive Grand Slam singles titles between them from the 2024 Australian Open to this year’s event Down Under.
That run was only ended by Zverev‘s victory at the French Open in June where Alcaraz did not compete due to a wrist injury and Sinner lost in the second round after struggling in the extreme Paris heat. Sinner then bounced back with victory at Wimbledon over Zverev in July before a knee injury forced him to miss the US Open.
Alcaraz did compete in Flushing Meadows after four and a half months out and looked in decent shape – losing just one set en route to the quarter-finals.
But his lack of match fitness after so long out may have eventually caught up with him in a five-set loss to America’s Ben Shelton. Zverev then went on to claim victory in New York – beating Shelton in four sets to claim the title.
Alcaraz’s return also saw luscious locks that were kept out of his eyes by a hairband, having previously sport cornrows and buzz cuts. And now in London, some experimenting has taken place.
And both Zverev and Alcaraz will now be teammates for the Laver Cup across the next three days – with the Spaniard getting a new hairstyle from the German before a practice session on Thursday. Both stars will be representing Team Europe against Team World at the O2 Arena in London.
Alcaraz is competing for the first time since his US Open exit earlier this month and says tennis chiefs must “do something” about drastically late finishes in tennis after he bowed out of the Flushing Meadows tournament at 3.33am.
“Yeah, 100 per cent [something should be done],” Alcaraz said, speaking in London ahead of the Laver Cup. “It is a shame that a match like this couldn’t reach a lot of people because they had to go to bed. Because they have to work the next day’s morning.
“So we could see at the beginning of the match it was packed and then in the fourth set, fifth set, a lot of people stayed, which was great. But it is a shame those people had to leave because of the time.”
