THE BUZZCUT MODE, LIKE IT OR NOT, ELEVATES CARLOS ALCARAZ IN TENNIS HISTORY
If he once was a kid swinging a racket, his life took on a flair with the Buzzcaraz, with his game improving to the point of “perfection” as he thumps Jannik Sinner for his sixth Grand Slam title
He doesn’t care about his skinhead-shortened hair — the Buzzcaraz Era of tennis and sport, if you shall — but it left Carlos Alcaraz with an adult verve. All he wanted was his brother to use a machine and cut his mop, and when that didn’t work, it was sheared. “The only way to fix it is to shave it off,” he said. “My head was super white. It’s weird for me to see myself that white in the hair.”
It started to grow back during the U.S. Open. And in the process, we began to see a 22-year-old Spaniard transform into a man who aims to become the greatest tennis player of all time. Dressed in pink, though not to fit the skin color of the presiding President of the United States, Alcaraz was so dominant in the final against Jannik Sinner that he was described as a baseball pitcher who faced 27 batters and retired all of them.
“I think I played perfect,” he said.
“Perfect,” said his coach, Juan Carlos Ferraro.
“I tried my best today. I couldn’t do more,” Sinner said.
With six major championships — two at the Open, two at Wimbledon, two at the French Open, watch the Australian Open next — it no longer is impractical to do the basic math. If he maintains his health and isn’t devoured by money while continuing to rule Sinner, who is 1-7 against him the last two seasons, why wouldn’t he control the sport for the next decade and a half? Unlike Novak Djokovic, who was forced to beat Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in winning most of his 24 major titles, Alcaraz has perplexed Sinner except for one summer day in London. Who else is out there? Ben Shelton? Joao Fonseca? If anyone else emerges, don’t expect anything close to perfection. Alcaraz is 36-1 since May, with the Wimbledon loss to Sinner representing his only loss in a major final, and he overcame that defeat by investigating why it happened. Was Sinner better on the baseline?
Not anymore. He won in four sets and had twice as many winners as Sinner, who still is haunted by a steroids bust and is settling into a No. 2 role. Their matches are riveting — the best rivalry in sports — but when we watch the incomparability of Alcaraz, this could fade into, well, Michael Jordan ascending over the complete competition.
“I wanna start with Jannik. It’s unbelievable what you’re doing during the whole season. Great level, every tournament you’re playing. I’m seeing you more than my family,” Alcaraz said. “It’s great to share the court, to share the locker rooms, everything.”
He joked. Sinner reflected. “I was very predictable on court today. He changed up the game. That’s also his style of how he plays. Now it’s gonna be on me if I want to make changes or not. We’re definitely gonna work on that,” he said. “I didn’t make one serve and volley. I didn’t use a lot of drop shots. Then you arrive at the point where you have to play Carlos, you have to go out of the comfort zone. I’m gonna aim … maybe even lose some matches from now on, but trying to do some changes. To be a bit more unpredictable as a player. That’s what I have to do, trying to become a better tennis player. At the end of the day, that’s my main goal.”
Until then, Alcaraz will soar on the gossip pages. If he is dating Emma Raducanu, the former U.S. Open champion, he might want to say so before Page Six digs in. And the hair? He looks like a Sex Pistol more than a Beatle. “To be honest, it's not that bad. I guess,” he said. “I’m not really into the hair at all. I'm the guy who thinks, ‘Okay, the hair grows and in a few days it's going to be already okay.’ It just happened.”
What also happened was the blossoming of Carlos Alcaraz as a guiding light. Group him with Scottie Scheffler, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Hurts as the new forces of sport. We can’t hang onto LeBron James and Djokovic forever. Novak? His last Grand Slam title came two years ago in Flushing Meadows. He didn’t reach a final in a major this year.
“I can do only as much as I can do. Yeah, it will be very difficult for me in the future to overcome the hurdle of Alcaraz, Sinner, in the best-of-five on the Grand Slams. I think I have a better chance best-of-three, but best-of-five, it's tough,” said Djokovic, 38. “They're just too good, you know, playing on a really high level. Unfortunately, I ran out of gas after the second set (against Alcaraz). I think I had enough energy to battle him and to keep up with his rhythm for two sets. After that, I was gassed out, and he kept going. Particularly if it's like the end stages of the Grand Slam.”
Who wasn’t energized by Alcaraz? Trump didn’t look impressed, for some reason, as he left Arthur Ashe Stadium. He heard more boos than cheers as he entered his suite, while thousands of fans were required to wait in line outside. Back at the French Open, Alcaraz needed five hours and 29 minutes to beat Sinner.
This time, he needed only two hours and 42 minutes.
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Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.