NEW YORK -- Within hours of Carlos Alcaraz arriving on site to the US Open Aug. 25, and long before he had even taken the court for his first-round match, he had become the day's biggest storyline.
Not because of his rivalry with world No. 1 Jannik Sinner, or because he was a favorite to win the title again. Everyone was talking about his new haircut.
"I mean, it's definitely terrible," Frances Tiafoe, a two-time US Open semifinalist, said after his match with a laugh before adding a caveat. "He's my guy though."
Over the next 48 hours, it felt like every player on tour -- from Naomi Osaka to Alexander Zverev to Emma Raducanu to Sinner himself -- was asked about, and had an opinion on, Alcaraz's hair. Each comment seemingly made the internet rounds, and Alcaraz responded to all of it with his signature good-natured humor, blaming his younger brother for the look.
Now, more than a week later, Alcaraz's hair has already started to grow back, and he has since booked his ticket to the semifinals following a 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 victory over No. 20 seed Jiri Lehecka on Tuesday. And while the questions about his cut have seemed to fade, the incident remains a fascinating reminder of just how beloved he is. While some players are always more popular or approachable than others in the locker room, very few players of Alcaraz's caliber, at this stage in his career, typically hold that distinction.
It begs the question: How can Alcaraz, a five-time major champion and current world No. 2, be so feared on the tennis court for his blistering athleticism, relentless grit and powerful forehand -- but be so well-liked by his opponents off of it?
"It's so tough to pull off that balance," Sam Querrey, the former Wimbledon semifinalist-turned-analyst and podcaster, told ESPN this week. "Not many superstars can pull it off. When he walks around the player lounge, you can poke fun of him, and he's just so cool with everybody. [Roger] Federer and [Rafael] Nadal had that a little bit, but Carlos seems to have more of that [quality].
"He's a worldwide superstar, but there are parts of him that are just the everyday guy, and people gravitate to that."
TENNIS, AT ITS CORE, is a deeply individual sport.
On the court, players are alone. While their coaches and support teams are seated nearby, and can give occasional guidance, it ultimately comes down to the player to problem-solve and find a way to win on their own.
Away from competition, players are on the road for most of the year, traveling from hotel room to hotel room and tournament to tournament. It can be an isolating experience, and players often spend most of their time with their respective teams. Many top players over the years have said they find it too difficult to be close with their peers.
"It's tough to have really good friends on the tour," five-time major champion Maria Sharapova said in 2011. "I find it difficult to be having dinner with someone one night and then having to play them two days later, because it is at the end of the day an individual sport and we are all very competitive ... You know we are not on a team and as far as really close friends go, I have my family who come with me on the road. I don't hang around in the locker room -- it's my least favorite place in the world."
While things have changed in recent years -- US Open breakout star Taylor Townsend credited the pandemic for shifting locker room dynamics in an interview with ESPN in 2024 -- and Querrey insists the men's locker room has always been a friendlier place, Alcaraz seems to relish being around his peers in a way that perhaps other superstars don't.
At the start of the tournament, a picture circulated of Alcaraz and Sinner together at Osteria Delbianco, an Italian restaurant in Midtown Manhattan. While Alcaraz later explained it was just a coincidence they were both there, what made it remarkable was that it was believable that they were there together. The same likely wouldn't have been the case for Sharapova and say, Serena Williams, or Federer and Nadal in the early years of their rivalry.
Before he retired in 2022, Querrey, 37, spent a lot of his career around the Big Three of Nadal, Federer and Novak Djokovic. According to him, Federer "couldn't have been nicer" if approached, and even was "fine with it" if made fun of, but wasn't quite as naturally chummy with everyone overall. Nadal was also gracious with his peers, but the language barrier could make it challenging. As Alcaraz has made a deliberate effort to improve his fluency in English, it has allowed him to more seamlessly interact with a larger group of players and those around the tour.
"Carlos speaks better English than Rafa does," Querrey said. "Therefore, I think he gets sarcasm, humor, things like that in a way that was harder with Rafa. It's helped him become more of a global star but also allows fellow players and fans to approach him more casually."
Querrey added that on his "Nothing Major" podcast, which he co-hosts with fellow retired American players John Isner, Steve Johnson and Jack Sock, they were recently talking about whether Alcaraz was able to always fly private at this point in his career. Without missing a beat, Alcaraz quickly commented on the clip on social media -- spelling errors included -- to say he flew commercial and shared his route from Madrid to Cincinnati. When Alcaraz saw Querrey a day or two later, he good-naturedly came up to him and reiterated that he had, in fact, had to make a connecting flight in Philadelphia to get to the Cincinnati Open.
At that tournament, Townsend, the world No. 1 in doubles, asked Alcaraz -- who went on to win the title -- to take a picture with her young son. He didn't hesitate and engaged in a conversation.
"He was so nice," Townsend recollected about the encounter. "I forgot he's not No. 1 [and] I was like, 'Carlos is No. 1 too.' A.J. goes, 'You're No. 1? Just like my mom.' Carlos was like, 'I'm kind of close.' He played it off."
Facundo Bagnis, a career journeyman who lost in the first round of qualifying at the US Open, called Alcaraz, "an even better person" than tennis player in an interview with the ATP, and shared a story about asking Alcaraz to help him make a birthday video for a friend.
"He could have told me no, ignored me or told me what day to do it on," Bagnis said. "But he responded by asking me when I had time so we could do it. I thought that was really something. He was doing me a favor and ended up considering my availability. It's amazing that someone so important and so good is still so friendly [and] well-mannered."
Even when players lose to Alcaraz, they often still sing his praises and share their well wishes. Shortly after Alcaraz defeated Tiafoe in the US Open semifinals in 2022, Tiafoe sought him out in the locker room, as later shown on Netflix's "Break Point" docuseries.
"Go win this thing," Tiafoe said before giving him a hug.
Alcaraz reminded Tiafoe that he was "amazing" as he started to walk away. "Don't forget it."
SHORTLY AFTER HER RETIREMENT from the sport, American Shelby Rogers, a two-time major quarterfinalist and former world No. 30, openly wondered in an ESPN interview if her trademark friendly demeanor had actually been a hindrance on the court.
"There's definitely a part of me that was like, 'Oh, maybe if I was tougher and didn't have that nicest-girl-on-tour reputation, maybe I would have won more matches,'" Rogers said, before deciding she had no regrets and was proud that she had remained her authentic self.
But that has not been a problem for Alcaraz. Not at the US Open, nor anywhere throughout his career. He has won 22 ATP titles and Tuesday marked his 268th victory on tour.
Alcaraz can, and usually does, beat anyone, on any given day -- typically with a wide smile on his face. While certainly not requiring the same level of focus as the main draw, Alcaraz was seen eagerly chatting with Jessica Pegula, an opponent in the mixed doubles draw, just moments before they were to walk out on court for their first-round match.
It's his enthusiasm and enjoyment that seems to endear him to fans, and perhaps even be central to what he has been able to achieve.
"I think the fun for Alcaraz is a major part of his success," said Mary Joe Fernandez, former world No. 4 and current ESPN analyst, before the start of the tournament. "The way that he can smile, not just when he wins a point, but when the other opponent plays a great point, he's able to clap, [and] enjoy the moment as well.
"I believe in Cincinnati there was a big point where his coach told him, 'Smile, have fun.' It relaxes him. I think you see the joy that he takes from all the possibilities he has in his game. He has so much creativity, so much variety."
But even in defeat, he remains gracious, and that's something his peers appreciate as well. After falling to Sinner in four sets during the Wimbledon final in July -- his first loss with a Slam title on the line -- Alcaraz sat in his chair with a smile on his face and applauded as Sinner went to celebrate with his team in his box. Moments later, Alcaraz congratulated Sinner during his on-court interview and said he was "just really happy" for his rival -- and for the "really good relationship" the two had off the court. He then thanked him for making him a better player.
Sinner responded by thanking Alcaraz for being "the player you are" and for their "amazing relationship."
Throughout his run thus far in New York, Alcaraz has been dominant, and was the only man to reach the quarterfinals without dropping a set. On Tuesday, he reached the ninth major semifinal of his career -- joining just Nadal, Boris Becker, Mats Wilander and Björn Borg to achieve that milestone before his 23rd birthday.
Alcaraz currently has the second-best odds, only slightly behind Sinner, of winning the US Open, according to ESPN Bet. He will next play the winner of Tuesday night's clash between Djokovic and Taylor Fritz in a semifinal on Friday. While his sights are most certainly on securing his sixth major title, and second in New York, Querrey doesn't think any outcome would dramatically alter much for Alcaraz.
He believes Alcaraz will likely remain the same energetic and playful guy almost everyone on tour has come to love.
"More importantly than anything, he's just a good human," Querrey said. "I think it's just in his DNA, it's who he is. I think it's also in part because of the phenomenal people around him as well, his parents, his agents, [his coach] Juan Carlos Ferrero, that encourage this.
"I know that if I was walking down the hallway with my son and we saw him and asked for a picture, he would 100% do it, and then spend a couple of minutes with him too. Who knows, maybe that will change once he's won 15 majors and the pressure is different, but I think he will still be the same guy. He just seems like he wakes up every day and loves life, and that energy is just contagious."