Arthur Fils recently spoke out about Carlos Alcaraz and Flavio Cobolli’s new hairstyles. The Frenchman asked his fellow tennis stars to leave the cornrows for him, while also acknowledging that it was ‘cool’ that they’re trying.
Earlier this year, Fils sported cornrows at the Miami Open. The look was inspired by his basketball idol and NBA legend Allen Iverson. Following in his footsteps, Italian tennis star Flavio Cobolli donned a similar hairstyle on vacation, while Carlos Alcaraz was also spotted with cornrows recently.
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Given the cultural connotations of the style, Cobolli and Alcaraz’s hair have caused quite a discussion in the tennis world. Arthur Fils was recently asked about the same by the Tennis Channel, and the 22-year-old responded by saying,
“Man, you put me on the spot right now. Well, it’s cool that they’re trying. It’s good to try, but I like more Flavio with his normal hair and I like Carlos with his normal hair… Spanish hair, very nice. And just leave me the corn rows.”
Alongside Fils, several tennis enthusiasts also chimed in to the discussion and opined that the hairstyle was best suited to black hair, while some accused Carlos Alcaraz and Cobolli of cultural appropriation.
Arthur Fils reflects on his campaign in Montreal
Arthur Fils is currently in action at the Canadian Open in Montreal. The Frenchman kicked off his campaign at the ATP Masters 1000 event against Zachary Svajda, ousting the American 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 in a closely fought encounter.
The 18th seed then faced off against Mariano Navone for his second round encounter, defeating the Argentinian in straight sets in a clinical performance. Reflecting on his win over Navone, Fils told the Tennis Channel,
“The court is very slow. Very very slow. So I was like, ‘okay, you know what? Try to be aggressive’. But don’t go for too much because I’m going to miss a lot and Navon is a great player. So I was like ‘okay if I start to go for too much I’m going to miss and then I’m going to start to go for three, four hours of matches and that’s something you don’t want’.
“So I was like okay just be patient and wait for the good opportunity. The serve helped me a lot today. So I was very happy,” he went on to add.
Up next, Arthur Fils will face off against Cameron Norrie at the Canadian Open. The duo are scheduled to be in action on Saturday, August 7.
Edited by Riddhi Acharya