Carlos Alcaraz got a buzz cut haircut this week and it’s generating huge publicity for the US Open and his brand and sponsors.
But hair and tennis has an abundance of history.
A number of high profile ATP stars have buzzed it all off – Lleyton Hewitt, Marat Safin, Guga Kuerten, Boris Becker, among others.
Of course the most famous hairstyle player ever was Andre Agassi. Tracy Austin said in her book, “Beyond Center Court” that Nick Bollettieri once said, “Andre won’t cut his hair because it’s worth five million dollars for all the publicity, notoriety and resulting endorsements it brings him. He’s very unusual and fans like unusual people.”
However Andre did shock the world and snip his world renowned golden locks in 1995 and created his new soldier warrior identity which seemed to contribute positively to his on court results. Agassi won more Grand Slams with less hair than his early years rock star image.
Patrick Rafter, the two time US Open king, decided to cut off his iconic ponytail in 2001, and auctioned it on eBay. Rafter’s ponytail sold for about AU $2,000 which was donated to child aid associations.
Marcelo Charpentier, a journeyman player from Argentina, dyed his hair an array of different colors including all pink one year at Roland Garros but his hairstyle strategies never produced any notable results.
The most famous hairstyle of all is probably Bjorn Borg and his rock star Swedish tresses which helped make the tennis titan/fashion icon one of the most famous sports figures on earth back in the 1970s and 80s. It was said Borg’s aura made young girls faint.
Vitas Gerulaitis copied the Borg look, said John McEnroe, but never wore a headband. Vitas also became a rock star figure on the world sports scene. It was speculated New York Rangers hockey star Ron Duguay also imitated the Borg look.
Nick Kyrgios was another inventive player when it came to hair details. The Australian rebel sported a mohawk look and also assorted other variations with dye highlights.
Last year on Montpellier, after losing early at Australian Open to Arthur Cazaux, Holger Rune tried a mohawk inspired new look which was canned by tennis fans and the new look was aborted quickly.
Roscoe Tanner and Jimmy Connors, both dabbled with perms during their careers but those fads were shortlived.
On the contrary, there are some players who never changed their hairstyle. For example, Stan Wawrinka has looked exactly the same for his entire 20 years plus ATP career. Others have followed the Stan policy of maintaining a certain consistent image appearance – John Isner, Andy Roddick, Pete Sampras, Todd Martin (though he did try a short lived Fu Manchu beard), Michael Chang, Richard Gasquet, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Jack Kramer, Kei Nishikori., Stefanos Tsitsipas, Roberto Bautista Agut, David Ferrer, Bryan Brothers, Tim Henman.
Agassi art by Miki DeGoodaboom
Andre Agassi · Bjorn Borg · Carlos Alcaraz · Gustavo Kuerten
