{"id":17557,"date":"2025-08-26T12:04:03","date_gmt":"2025-08-26T12:04:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=17557"},"modified":"2025-08-26T12:04:03","modified_gmt":"2025-08-26T12:04:03","slug":"a-cut-above-new-look-alcaraz-eases-past-opelka-at-us-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=17557","title":{"rendered":"A cut above: new-look Alcaraz eases past Opelka at US Open"},"content":{"rendered":"
Carlos Alcaraz unveiled a striking new hairstyle before giving Reilly Opelka the chop at the US Open on Monday.<\/p>\n

The 22-year-old arrived on Arthur Ashe Stadium sporting a severe military-style crew cut for his night match with the American.<\/p>\n

While Alcaraz’s new look failed to impress some — close friend and fellow player Frances Tiafoe called it “terrible” — it did not distract the streamlined Spaniard from the task at hand as he motored to a 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 first-round victory over the 6ft 11in Opelka.<\/p>\n

Alcaraz could not hide his delight with his performance against his big-serving opponent.<\/p>\n

“Today was a really difficult one,” Alcaraz said.<\/p>\n

“Reilly is a great, tough player. I couldn’t get the rhythm that I wanted to get but I’m just really happy with what I did today. I did a great performance today.”<\/p>\n

Asked about his new look, Alcaraz smiled.<\/p>\n

“I think I’ve got to ask the people if they like it or not,” he said, to cheers from the New York crowd. “I think they like it.”<\/p>\n

Alcaraz, who won the first of his five Grand Slam singles titles at the US Open in 2022, took control with a break in the fifth game of the first set, retaining that advantage before serving out to love.<\/p>\n

After saving two Opelka break points before holding for 3-3 in the second set, Alcaraz seized his chance in the 11th game, breaking for a 6-5 lead before holding to take a 2-0 stranglehold on the contest.<\/p>\n

The third set went with serve until the ninth game, when Alcaraz once again scored a decisive break to take a 5-4 lead.<\/p>\n

A long forehand return from Opelka gave Alcaraz three match points, and he converted the first of those with a scorching forehand down the line to advance.<\/p>\n

Alcaraz will face Italy’s Mattia Bellucci in the second round.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Carlos Alcaraz unveiled a striking new hairstyle before giving Reilly Opelka the chop at the US Open on Monday. The 22-year-old arrived on Arthur Ashe Stadium sporting a severe military-style crew cut for his night match with the American. While Alcaraz’s new look failed to impress some — close friend and fellow player Frances Tiafoe […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17557"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17557\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}