Before a fuzzy yellow even hit the strings of Carlos Alcaraz’s racket, he had already made the biggest splash in the early days of the men’s draw of the US Open: thanks to his hair, or a lack thereof.
The fresh, unmissable buzz cut on top of the Spaniard’s grinning face has betrayed a casual, feel-good charisma – there were comparisons to David Beckham – that was in stark contrast to some of the petulance and drama on display during the first week, from Daniil Medvedev’s spectacular meltdown to the spat between Jelena Ostapenko and Taylor Townsend after which the former was criticised for racist overtones.
It has been in contrast with his tennis too. In three matches, Alcaraz has been merciless, winning nine successive sets, dropping just 21 games and losing his serve only once. It is an emerging side of his game that was previously considered a sign of fallibility, and one that is likely to shoot warning signs about his motivation and form for a title charge in New York.
Anticipation around the year-ending Major was built around another possible faceoff between Jannik Sinner, the no-nonsense World No.1, and the splashy Alcaraz, after they split the French Open and Wimbledon. Sinner’s superiority on hard courts put him as the slight favourite, especially considering that the only real blemish against the Italian’s name is his record against Alcaraz. The Spaniard, however, has shown a tendency to let his level drop against lower-ranked opponents, getting drawn into tight encounters in fixtures that were low-stakes on paper.
In the past two years, that tendency has come out even more in the final parts of the season, once he has run out of gas and is invariably facing a physical issue. After reaching the Olympic final last year, he came to New York undercooked and was beaten in the second round. It is an element of his game that the growing pack of die-hard faithfuls he has amassed obsesses about online, just as much as they do about his hair.
But in red-hot form, having established himself as the player of the year in 2025 so far, Alcaraz continues to get better and better; this week’s ruthlessness shows that.
Technical improvements from Alcaraz
The technical improvements have been slow and subtle. His attempts at bettering his serve have been talked about all year, with his team trying to apply a smoother motion that gives him more control, rather than power. It has incrementally shown results. His backhand too has taken a different shape – on the faster courts, there is a concerted effort to take it earlier and bring the racket face down from a higher level to flatten it.
The technical improvements have been slow and subtle. His attempts at bettering his serve have been talked about all year, with his team trying to apply a smoother motion that gives him more control, rather than power.
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But the biggest step is psychological; that is what will transfer his status from prodigal teenager to outright standard-setter, and it is still being worked on. He needs to keep his level up and mitigate lapses, even in the boring matches.
Opening his US Open campaign against the tall, big-serving Reilly Opelka may have looked like a banana skin – Alcaraz needed five sets to win his first round against Italian veteran Fabio Fognini at Wimbledon. Instead, the Spaniard locked in on serve, waited for the mistake from Opelka’s side of the net, and then won three sets with three breaks.
Against the less formidable Mattia Belluci in the second round, he looked impenetrable, hitting 32 winners and winning more than half the points while returning serve. In his 6-2, 6-4, 6-0 win over Luciano Darderi on Friday, he was once again in the same mood before feeling pain in his left knee. After needing a medical timeout and losing his serve, it was exactly the kind of moment that has seen Alcaraz’s level fall from a cliff in the past – a physical discomfort and giving his opponent a small route back.
Instead, he rattled off seven of the next eight games, leaning into his familiar strength of dominating with his forehand in cross court exchanges and serving exceptionally, to book his place into the second week blemish-free. It’s the first time he has not dropped a set in the first week of a Major since he won his first title at the US Open in 2022.
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Up next for him is unheralded Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech in the fourth round late on Sunday. Invariably, greater future tests may be on his mind – on paper, he may have to beat both Novak Djokovic and Sinner to win the title – but to keep the ruthless streak alive, to cut down minutes on court, and to stay razor sharp will give him an even greater edge, one he has not had in previous Majors.
