As the Australian Open 2024 reaches its quarter-finals, 20-year-old Carlos Alcaraz stormed into the final eight beating Miomir Kecmanovic 6-4, 6-4, 6-0 in the fourth round of the Majors. One of the prime favorites to win this Grand Slam besides Novak Djokovic, Alcaraz has managed to grab attention for more than one reason.
Besides his tennis prowess, Alcaraz is making headlines for his 2024 AO outfit. The sleeveless outfit is reminiscent of what Spanish star Rafael Nadal used to wear in his younger days. Alcaraz wore a sleeveless Nike design t-shirt during his fourth-round encounter against Miomir Kecmanovic.
The T-shirt looked light and breezy, with an equally light and warm color of lime yellow. The color almost looked faded throughout the front and deeper in the back. It was slightly greenish in the back. Alcaraz completed the outfit with Nike shorts that are Dry-Fit and his Nike shoes from the Air Zoom series.
Carlos Alcaraz going sleeveless at this year’s Australian Open
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— Olly (@Olly_Tennis_) January 13, 2024
His dank-looking outfit can be shopped from the online store Tennis Warehouse, MisterTennis.com, and Tennis-Point. Although the exact price of the T-shirt is not available, prices of similar-looking T-shirts range from $53.90 to $90.
Carlos Alcaraz’s outfit is both reminiscent of and inspired by Rafael Nadal
Very few tennis players from Spain have made it as big as Rafael Nadal did, and Carlos Alcaraz is probably the next biggest name. Therefore, comparisons are bound to be rife. However, the similarities even extend to their sleeveless outfits.
Rafael Nadal’s look is an integral part of the evolution of tennis outfits. The 22-time Grand Slam winner used to don sleeveless T-shirts until 2008. In 2018, he was back with his cool, dapper style but he always wore them for a very good reason. Nadal told John McEnroe after his match against Stefanos Tsitsipas at the 2019 Australian Open that he wore those since he has problems playing in very hot conditions. He tends to hit his forehand a lot, and sleeveless T-shirts give him the added freedom to do that. He also admitted that it made him feel younger.
Alcaraz himself admitted that he is a huge fan of Nadal and that he inspired him to wear such an outfit. The youngster also previously admitted how very different both of them are in their game.
“Honestly, when I wear the sleeves, I was thinking about Rafa when he wear that. He won that US Open, right?” said Alcaraz at the press conference.
He was referring to the 2018 US Open where Nadal beat Daniil Medvedev 7–5, 6–3, 5–7, 4–6, 6–4 in the finals to win the trophy. He wore a black sleeveless Nike T-shirt with purple outlines of the logo. Nadal perfectly matched it with purple armbands and a headband. Maybe Alcaraz can keep wearing his outfit and beat Djokovic in the final.
