"This kit is a crime";"Makes me want to barf" - Fans unimpressed by Carlos Alcaraz's mismatched Nike outfit for French Open 2024
Carlos Alcaraz kicked off his 2024 French Open campaign with a comprehensive win in the first round. The Spaniard comes into the tournament as one of the favorites to emerge victorious.
Alcaraz kicked off his journey at this year's clay slam against American lucky loser JJ Wolf on May 26. Wolf broke Alcaraz in the very first game of the first set. But that was as far as he could push back against the talented Spaniard as he broke back Wolf thrice to take the first set. The story was similar in the next two sets as Alcaraz raced through the contest 6-1, 6-2, 6-1 in nearly two hours.
In total, Alcaraz broke Wolf nine times in the match and overpowered the American with a superior first-serve points percentage. While the former World No. 1's performance on the court was admirable, fans were not impressed by his outfit.
The 21-year-old walked out on Court Philippe-Chartier in a Nike-designed dark blue T-shirt and yellow shorts to play his opening-round match. Fans were put off by the color combination of Spanaird's kit and thought he was accidentally wearing his warm-up outfit.
"This alcaraz outfit makes me want to barf," a fan wrote.
"It looks like a warmup outfit," another fan commented.
A fan joked, "Ok Carlos now show us the real kit."
Other fans slammed Nike for putting little effort into designing a kit for a player like Alcaraz's stature. One joked that the brand is waiting for the World No. 3 to achieve more laurels to create a better outfit for him.
"Sorry but couldn’t Nike do more for that Alcaraz outfit at RG?? How more meh can that be?…" said another fan.
"This kit is a crime tbh," a fan wrote.
"Swear nike is waiting for Carlos to achieve a career slam before giving him individual fire kits that he deserves," tweeted another fan.
A fan even joked that the kit was inspired by Carlos Alcaraz's encounter with bees at the 2024 Indian Wells Masters. While another said the outfit looked like something he had picked out at a local store.
"Bee kit after the bee incident? Oh he’s taking it," a fan quipped.
Another fan said, ""Unsponsored player buys mismatched kit from local sports store" chic."
Carlos Alcaraz concerned about forehand injury affecting his Roland Garros campaign
A forehand injury has hampered Carlos Alcaraz's clay swing this year, forcing him to withdraw from the Monte-Carlos Masters, Barcelona Open, and Madrid Open. He was defending champion in the last two tournaments.
Ahead of his first-round match at the 2024 French Open, the Spaniard expressed worry that the injury would once again limit him from being at his best at a major tournament. Alcaraz added that he tries to distract himself with other thoughts whenever his mind wears towards injury concerns.
"I'm still a little scared. Respect when hitting is going to take a while to go away. The feeling I have is that if I notice it once it is enough to think about things. Every time I hit it 100% in training or games I have that hum in my head," the 21-year-old told MARCA.
Carlos Alcaraz reached the semifinal of the French Open last year. He will face either Jack Draper or Jesper de Jong in the second round on May 29.