He might have lost the US Open final to Carlos Alcaraz, and joked about rustling up new tricks (not including playing left handed at Beijing on the ATP next pitstop), but Jannik Sinner is collecting cult fans, who go around donning his carrot hair. Without Sinner even intending to merch’ out of them.
Donald Trump wasn’t the centre of orange attention at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Sunday night. It was in fact, finalist Jannik Sinner, despite his game getting humbled by a bigly popular Alcaraz as he lost in four sets.
But sections of the crowd would randomly brighten up the top view, as Sinner fans trooped in waving not the Italian flag or his posters, but wearing orange curly Afro wigs, that signal Sinner unmistakably.
The Italian is barely ever seen on court without his neat cap that tames a vertically large mop of hair that’s carrot coloured. It usually gets unveiled if he wins trophies and the dishevelled hair is revealed. Online websites however jumped on the trend, and multiple platforms have released the iconic Sinner wigs as part of a wig curly party costume ensemble.
The eye-catching colour with fusilli curls have acquired an unmissable association with Sinner with merchandise popping up across Australia where he won his first Slam of the season. On ebay the Sinner wigs have sold fast for close to $25.44 since start of the year.
At Cincinnati a diehard fan caught Sinner’s attention when he yelled, “Jannik I have the same hair colour as you. Support the system,” much to everyone’s mirth.
On American ‘perfect match’ podcast, the hosts took exception to Sinner fans turning up in red head wigs and carrot costumes. Rublev is a distant second red orange hair. On the podcast, the hosts discussed and flagged England’s ‘socially accepted bigotry against red haired people’, and words like ‘ginger’, and how it’s embraced by Sinner fans. “They love him but can he say if he minds?” the podcast asks, adding they might be being too sensitive on his behalf. The podcast predicted during Monte Carlo on the day he got to No 1 that the orange wigs would become more prominent through the season.
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Jannik Sinner said he is willing to lose games to make changes after the US Open final defeat to Alcaraz. (AP)
At last year’s ATP year end gala, Sinner was also given a tiny trophy for best hair. “I have the best hair. I’m surprised I have no words and now I’m not even happy anymore because Sascha took my award!” he quipped after Sascha Zverev interrupted his speech saying he had grown his hair for three years for the award, and took away the tiny trophy.
While the buzz around US Open was about buzz cut of Alcaraz, the ‘Carota Boys’ have become a globetrotting group in their all clad carrot suits after first appearing at Italian Open in May of 2023. Coffee maker Lavazza later sponsored their trip to Roland Garros, Wimbledon and US Open, but the wigs are mostly spontaneous buys by unorganised fans.
In an April 2024 interview with Vogue, Sinner has recounted how the hair was the reason he got to be known as the Fox, nicknamed in grade school. Vogue asked Sinner how he managed to stuff his curls into the snug-fitting hats he wore during matches, and he told them, “This is a talent. You put the hairs back like this,” he said, pulling his curls straight back and holding them down, Vogue wrote. “And you put the hat like this,” he said, slipping a white cap over his head, back to front. “But the thing is, this one usually stays out,” he had described tufts that slip out and indicate the need for a haircut. At a certain point, Sinner explained to Vogue, the curls begin to exert so much pressure on the cap that the cap starts to slide around on his head, and then it’s time for a haircut. “When the hat is moving, that’s when I know I have to go to the hairdresser.”
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
