Style Guide: Carlos Alcaraz flies his barber to Roland Garros for mid-tournament haircut

PARIS, France—Some tennis players are too superstitious to change things up during the middle of a tournament, especially at a high-stakes Grand Slam event. Carlos Alcaraz is not one of those players.

The No. 2 seed debuted a fresh new ‘do during his Roland Garros second-round match against Fabian Marozsan and, after a mid-match wobble, closed out the victory 6-1, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.

Read More: Carlos Alcaraz says he has “found the good path again” | Roland Garros Wrap, Day 2

Eagle-eyed Alcaraz fans were already on high alert for the new look, after the Spaniard’s personal barber, Victor Martinez, shared on social media that he was en route to Paris earlier in the week.

The internet was divided after seeing Alcaraz’s resulting close-cropped look, featuring shaved sides with a fade and tapered back.

“Victor barber deserves jail time for the crimes he commits,” wrote one X user, reacting to a social media clip of the 22-year-old arriving at Roland-Garros on Wednesday. “I will learn how to cut hair just to give Carlitos a proper haircut,” another user added. "He was looking very scruffy at Rafa's tribute. Now he's so fresh and so clean!" countered one fan on Instagram.

"I think everybody saw my hair, my beard. So I had to do something, about it," Alcaraz grinned during his post-match press conference.

"I'm lucky he could come here to Paris, watch a few of my matches. Just talking that he has to bring the materials to cut my hair that I needed."

"I know people are not used to see myself getting a haircut during the matches," he added. "I think that's why the people was a little bit surprised, but I think that's something normal."

During his run to this year’s Australian Open quarterfinals, Alcaraz similarly turned heads when he showed off a new shaved buzz cut style. He revealed that his thick hair just grows back way too fast, requiring him to get more frequent haircuts—and therefore keeping 'Victor the Barber' on speed dial.

"I discussed with my barber that when I get a haircut… three days later it’s grown out,” he said in Melbourne. “So I have to go more often… I knew I was gonna be here in Australia, (its) 40 degrees (104 Fahrenheit).

“I thought I needed something new… Probably this year is gonna be a new Carlitos in style."

On Wednesday afternoon in Paris, the defending champion needed two hours and 11 minutes to see off Marozsan and secure a spot in the third round.

He awaits the winner of No. 31 seed Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard of France and Bosnia’s Damir Dzumhur.