"I was so nervous that day. I remember being in the shop and my hands were just shaking" - Carlos Alcaraz's barber speaks amid criticism online

World number two Carlos Alcaraz makes headlines wherever he goes and whatever he does. Currently competing at the final Grand Slam of the year, he is challenging for his sixth Grand Slam, but unfortunately does not have his barber Victor Martinez with him, which has led to a new look.

Before the US Open commenced, the Spaniard left fans and pundits speechless and shocked with his new hairstyle. Confusion ran around about why he had gotten rid of his hair. In the end, it turned out that his brother was the culprit. Without his regular barber, Alcaraz trusted his brother Alvaro to do the job, with the results predictably not going well.

Speaking to reporters in New York, Alcaraz said: “New York is too far away for Víctor. I felt like my hair was really long already, and before the tournament, I just really wanted to get a haircut. Suddenly, he misunderstood with the machine. He just cut it. Then the only way to fix it is just shave it off. It’s just what came, this haircut. To be honest, it’s not that bad, I guess.”

In an interview with CNN Sports, Martinez revealed he was 'nervous' when he heard that he would be cutting the former world number one's hair.

“The first time, I was super nervous,” he said. “I was so nervous that day. I remember being in the shop and my hands were just shaking. I was with the world No. 1 at that time!” When he arrives at the shop, he’s just another guy,” he explains. “It’s true that I have to give him a bit of privilege. We often work with the doors closed. We try to choose times where no one is going to come to the shop. Often, I go to his house to cut his hair in the comfort of his home. We always try to be just us two in the shop, but there have been many times where it’s coincided with another client, so he chats with the other customers in the shop.”

Whilst Alcaraz likes the haircuts enough to keep Martinez as his barber, there are fans who are not fans of his work, with Martinez receiving criticism in the past. Fortunately, these do not get underneath Martinez's skin, with him brushing it off with his client. “I don’t take it personally, so it doesn’t annoy me," he said. "In fact, I find it funny. Carlos and I laugh about the bad comments. Carlos keeps coming to me to cut his hair because it’s good, because he likes it,” he explains. “When we’re together, we look at the comments and we laugh. At the end of the day, the bad comments are also good because they create publicity.”

It is not just that they chat about, with football and Real Madrid on the tips of their tongues, as well as upcoming tournaments. "When there’s an important Champions League game for Real Madrid, we speak about football," he said. "I ask him how he’s feeling for the next tournament because Carlos always gets his hair cut before traveling to the tournament. So I ask him how he’s feeling, if he’s doing good, if he’s feeling motivated. We speak about anything.”

The barber is grateful for the support and recognition he has achieved from this relationship, citing customers asking for 'the Carlos haircut'. He said: “It’s incredible because people in another part of the world are talking about you and your work. So it makes you happy, it makes you feel good because people know you in many different parts of the world, thanks to Carlos. People come to the shop asking for ‘the Carlos haircut.’ Lots of kids, his fans.”

When reacting to Alcaraz's new cut, he said: “I asked Carlos about what had happened, and he told me the culprit was his brother Alvaro. I have to speak to Alvaro about what he has done!”