Argentine tennis player Camilo Ugo Carabelli has stunned fans at an Australian Open lead-up tournament after deciding to give himself a haircut between games.
The 26-year-old was playing Alejandro Tabilo at the ASB Classic in Auckland on Tuesday when he used some scissors to hack at his fringe.
Sitting courtside between games, he cut his fringe, which appeared to be hindering the world number 43’s vision.
Fans and officials watched in disbelief as the unusual scene unfolded, while one commentator was equally stunned.
‘Just enough time for a quick haircut before game six. You don’t see this very often do you?,’ they said.
Social media lit up as fans joked about the incident.
Camilo Ugo Carabelli stunned fans after he gave himself a haircut between games
Despite his haircut, Argentine star Carabelli lost in straight sets in Auckland
‘He heard advantage server and thought it was advantage barber,’ one person wrote on X.
‘To track the ball’s direction more clearly,’ another said.
Despite the impromptu haircut, Carabelli was beaten in straight sets by Tabilo 6-4, 6-2, in the round of 32 match.
While it was an unusual moment for fans to witness, it’s not the first time a tennis player has decided to turn barber mid-match.
Three-time Grand Slam winner Andy Murray once chopped off his fringe in a match.
An X user claimed Boris Becker also gave himself a trim during the 1988 Wimbledon semi-final against Ivan Lendl, which he ended up winning.
Murray’s trim occurred during the 2015 season-ending ATP Finals.
Murray was facing Rafael Nadal and was growing frustrated early in the match after an early exchange of breaks.
Three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray once cut his hair during a match against Rafael Nadal in 2015
In 2016, Svetlana Kuznetsova cut her hair during the WTA Finals in Singapore and went on to win against Agnieszka Radwańska
The Scotsman decided to pull a pair of scissors from his bag and chop off part of his fringe.
‘I had some hair in my eye, and I just wanted to get rid of it,’ Murray said at the time.
Like Carabelli, the strategy didn’t work, with Murray also beaten in straight sets.
In 2016, Svetlana Kuznetsova cut her hair during the WTA Finals in Singapore.
She was behind in her match against Agnieszka Radwańska in the third set when she asked for scissors and cut off her ponytail.
Explaining her haircut, she said: ‘It was bothering me a lot. I was trying to put it behind my headband but my hair is very thick and heavy.
‘When I was hitting forehands, every time I would hit a good shot it would hit my eye and I would struggle.
‘I thought ‘OK, what’s more important right now, my hair or the match?’ So I thought, OK, I have got to go for it right now.’
Unlike Carabelli and Murray, she won her game after her haircut.
