It’s very simple. Jessica Pegula, world No. 4, talked about Carlos Alcaraz’s changes of look on the “Player’s Box” podcast. Tennis365 picked it up, We Love Tennis too, and I read it in my kitchen in Uccle, or Waterloo, depending on the year.
Her words, exactly as she said them: “He gives us a new look… every month. I’m a bit obsessed (with his changes of look). A moustache, though? I didn’t much like the moustache. But I love that he keeps on surprising us. I really appreciate that.”
I said it back in January. Not about the moustache, about the principle: modern tennis is now commented on in podcasts, between players, and never again with a pundit. It’s exactly what I’ve been saying for years, nobody listens to me. A world No. 4 talks on a podcast about the looks of a 23-year-old with seven Grand Slam titles, and nobody thinks of calling the man who faced a future top 10 in Kitzbühel in ’92.
Me, in Kitzbühel, in ’92, I wore a moustache. Ninety per cent of the dressing rooms did, and I’m being kind. Nobody talked about it on a podcast, there was no podcast. There was me, at the bar, and people listened.
Careful, I’m not saying the opposite of what I said. I’m clarifying. Pegula is right to enjoy the surprise. But a look analysis without a former Belgian top 50 at the table is a half-recorded episode, right.
Silly question, but did you have a moustache in Kitzbühel or a look that changed every month?
Both. It depended on the draw. I left my number with the newsroom for the next season of “Player’s Box”. All right?
It’s true, we checked: We Love Tennis.
