Carlos Alcaraz arrived at the US Open with a markedly different look after a haircut went wrong and his hair was reduced to a few millimetres. The five-time Grand Slam champion, 22, explained the change came after a miscommunication at home. “Quite different I guess. I felt like my hair was really long already,” he said. “And before the tournament I said that I really want to get a haircut.

“Suddenly my brother just misunderstood with the machine. He just cut it and the only way to fix it is just to shave it off. To be honest it’s not that good… it’s not that bad I guess.”

Alcaraz also noted his usual barber did not make the trip to the United States. “New York is too far away for Victor,” Alcaraz explained. “I’m not really into hair at all. I’m the guy who thinks like, ‘okay hair grows,’ and in a few days it’s gonna be okay I guess. It just happened and that’s it.”

What might have been dismissed as a fashion mishap drew a different response from Patrick Mouratoglou. The coach, speaking on Instagram, suggested the hairstyle could influence opponents at Flushing Meadows. “I think Alcaraz’s biggest weapon at the US Open is his haircut,” Mouratoglou said with a smile, and elaborated: “I think it highlights his physicality and animality that defines him so well and makes him so scary for players. And I think it can have an impact.

“I mean, not that he needs the impact. Of course, he doesn’t need this impact on players. Everybody’s scared of him, except maybe Sinner and Djokovic.

“But the feeling that players can have about Alcaraz is reinforced even more by the hairstyle.”

Alcaraz will face Novak Djokovic next, a match that carries extra weight given their recent history. Having lost four of their past five meetings, Alcaraz made his intentions clear. “Novak, we all know Novak’s game. It doesn’t matter that he has been out of the Tour since Wimbledon. [He’s] playing great matches here,” he said. “I know he’s hungry. I know his ambition for more, so let’s see. I know I played a lot of times against him. I really want revenge. That’s obvious.”

Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz meet in Friday’s US Open semi-final with substantial ranking points and prize money on the line. Both are former champions in New York and this is their first meeting since the Australian Open earlier this year when Djokovic stunned his younger rival.

Despite fitness struggles, 38-year-old Djokovic has prevailed against several younger opponents to reach a record 14th US Open men’s singles semi-final. Alcaraz has advanced to the last four without dropping a set. By reaching the semi-finals, each player has already secured 800 ATP ranking points.

Twelve months ago Djokovic earned just 100 points at the US Open after a third-round loss to Alexei Popyrin. That result leaves him provisionally up 700 ranking points to 4,830 in the ATP Live Rankings and moved him up three places to world No 4 as things stand.

Alcaraz was eliminated in the second round in 2024 by Botic van de Zandschulp and collected only 50 points. His run to this year’s semi-finals is provisionally worth a 750-point increase. Alcaraz holds 10,340 points in the ATP Live Rankings and is provisionally back as world No 1, ahead of incumbent Jannik Sinner. Sinner must better Alcaraz’s result to remain at No 1. Whoever wins Friday’s semi-final will earn 1,300 ATP ranking points.

Prize money at this year’s US Open has also risen. Each semi-finalist in both singles draws will receive $1,260,000, an increase from the $1,000,000 paid to beaten semi-finalists in 2024. Reaching the final guarantees at least $2,500,000, and the champion will be paid $5,000,000.

Career and season earnings underline the financial stakes. Djokovic’s career prize-money total stands at $188,934,053, the highest in tennis history. Alcaraz is sixth on the all-time ATP list with $48,486,628. In 2025 Alcaraz has earned $10,631,652 and Djokovic has won $3,400,133.

Toni Nadal has called on tennis authorities to impose stronger penalties for on-court racket destruction, describing the behaviour as increasingly common and deserving of action. He asked organisers for harsher measures and demanded reflection on the wider problem, arguing that the sport should not tolerate these episodes.

Toni said tennis must introduce “sporting punishments” to discourage such conduct and added: “And also to consider why this type of reprehensible behaviour occurs more frequently in our sport than in other disciplines.

“I have never seen a ping-pong player break a racket, and very rarely have I seen a golfer punish their club after making a mistake.”

The remarks were prompted by Daniil Medvedev’s behaviour during his match against Benjamin Bonzi at the US Open. A photographer walking onto the court prompted chair umpire Greg Allensworth to give Bonzi another first serve, at which point Medvedev lost his temper, talking into the umpire’s microphone and criticising the official’s professionalism. “He wants to go home, guys. He doesn’t like to be here. He gets paid by the match, not by the hour,” Medvedev could be heard saying to the umpire and the fans.

Rafa Nadal criticised Medvedev’s inability to control such outbursts, highlighting that fines have not ended the behaviour. “I am surprised that a player of Medvedev’s stature is unable to calm his nerves and is willing to project this image of himself, and also that the heavy financial penalties subsequently imposed on him have failed to eradicate his behaviour,” Nadal said.

Nadal continued: “In the case of tennis, I believe that the combination of youth, stress and the feeling of lack of control caused by the extreme speed at which the ball travels today triggers a frustration that tennis players are increasingly unable to control.

“And finally, we must take into account a fact that is as uncontrollable as it is discouraging: the enormous impact and approval that unedifying behaviour has, which is most widely reproduced on social media and, unfortunately, widely approved.”

Though known for his intensity, Nadal has never broken a racket on court. Toni once told him, “If you throw a racket, I’m no longer your coach.” Instead, the nearest instance came at the 2022 US Open when Nadal was seen hitting himself with his racket after a lost point.