NEW YORK – Carlos Alcaraz’s accidental buzz cut is moving at the US Open thanks to a simple victory in the second round on Wednesday night, a year after losing that stage in the Grand Slam tournament.
Second-seeded Alcaraz, who shaved his head after his brothers ruined his hair, needed more than a fifth of an hour to beat Italy’s 65th place Mattia Bellucci 6-1, 6-0, 6-3 under the lights of Arthur Ash Stadium.
Alcaraz won 86% of his first serve points and did not face breakpoints while accumulating a 32-11 advantage to the winner. His four drop games tied his minimal in a completed major match.
Overall, it’s a far cry from what happened in the second round at Flushing Meadows in 2024.
Alcaraz entered one with 15 unbeaten runs in major tournaments – mainly thanks to the titles of French Open and Wimbledon – but came out at the wrong end of a straight set defeat against Botic Van de Zandschulp.
There was no such shocking opportunity for Bellucci.
“Yeah, I played great,” said Alcaraz, who won the first of five grand slam titles at the US Open in 2022. “Today wasn’t his day.
Alcaraz won all 27 service games in two rounds with Flushing Meadows and won serves in 32 consecutive games back to the Cincinnati Open semifinals.
Wednesday marked Alcaraz’s 79th career victory in the majors in his 19th Grand Slam appearance. Among men making their debut in the open era, only John McEnroe, Bjorn Borg and Rafael Nadal have won matches in the first 19 major appearances.
Alcaraz will finish 80th in the major victory against 32nd seed Luciano Dadeli on Friday. It will be their first career meeting.
ESPN research and Associated Press contributed to this report.