Mumbai, Aug. 27 -- Carlos Alcaraz, who often poses questions for which his opponents have no answer to, had a query for the crowd at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York on Monday night. "I gotta ask the people if they like the new haircut or not," Alcaraz said during the post-match interview. "I think they like it." The roar provided the answer. The Spaniard walked onto court for his first round US Open match sporting an all-purple kit. And a buzzcut that has created quite a stir at the Billie Jean King Tennis Centre. The tournament's official X handle called it "2000 David Beckham". Frances Tiafoe said it was "definitely terrible," although a laughing Alcaraz claimed the US player had told him it looked good. But it did little to distract him as he put on a clinical display to beat Reilly Opelka 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 in just over two hours in the first round. For a player who wears a wristband as the only piece of accessory, the new haircut was quite a shock to most. Even the English part of the Spaniard's post-match press conference, which an official dubbed "the beauty portion of the press conference," was filled more with questions about the new look than the match. "I felt like my hair was really long already," Alcaraz said, trying to explain it away as a haircut gone wrong. "Before the tournament, I really wanted to get a haircut. My brother misunderstood the machine. He cut it and the only way to fix it was to shave it. "To be honest," he added, "it's not that bad." Neither was his game. On the other end of the court was a player Alcaraz had never played before, the 6-foot-11 Opelka. A self-proclaimed "servebot," the American is among the biggest servers tennis has seen. From height, he rains down aces at will. His 14 against Alcaraz took his season-leading tally to 669. But Alcaraz was just as efficient on serve. In the opening set, the 22-year-old from Murcia did not drop a point. Of the 84 points on Alcaraz's serve, he lost only 17. And if the serve was Opelka's biggest weapon, Alcaraz had to be spot on with his returns. "I think the return was one of the best things I did today and then I just tried to play my best tennis, be focused on the serve. I think, overall, I did a great performance today," Alcaraz said on-court. "Today was a really difficult one against a really great player. With (Opelka's) serve, I couldn't get that rhythm I wanted to, but just really happy with everything I've done today." Opelka, a 27-year-old from Michigan, can be a tricky player on his day. Apart from the big serves, he has solid groundstrokes - particularly on the forehand. He is also a frequent and efficient volleyer, especially the large wingspan making him an imposing figure at the net. But the Alcaraz defence itself is a weapon. At 4-4 in the third set, with Opelka serving at 30-0, the American charged to the net and played a well-placed volley deep on Alcaraz's forehand side. The Spaniard, out of position, charged to his right, and sliding on the hard court at the Arthur Ashe Stadium just flicked a passing cross court shot that landed inches from the baseline. Opelka looked at Alcaraz in disbelief, and so did those in the stands. Regardless of his bulging biceps, on show in those sleeveless tops, or the new hairdo, it is Alcaraz's game that always captures the attention. And on Monday he finished the match the same way he cleared his first service game - with a hold to love. It takes the second seed to a season-leading 55 wins, which includes six titles. On hard courts, he is now 22-4 in 2025. In New York, he's also chasing a possible return to world No.1. For that, he has to better defending champion Jannik Sinner's result in the tournament. For now, he's up and running at the US Open. Up next is Italian World No. 65 Mattia Bellucci. In the biggest upset of the first two days, US world No.6 Madison Keys was sent crashing out Mexico's world No.82 Renata Zarazua. Her three-hour-10-minute, 6-7(10), 7-6(3), 7-5 result made her the first Mexican woman to beat a top 10 player. Keys, the 2025 Australian Open champion and the 2017 US Open finalist, said she was hit by nerves."For the first time in a while my nerves really got the better of me, and it kind of became a little bit paralyzing," she said....