Guess who’s back? It’s only the most charming and ruthless Spaniard to rampage across a tennis court since, well, Rafael Nadal. Carlos Alcaraz is in action after a 139-day absence due to a wrist injury. The compression sleeve over said wrist, which he wore for his first match at the US Open on Monday, seems to be just a precaution: he dispatched Roman Safiullin in straight sets.
“I’m just really, really happy that I was able to compete again,” Alcaraz said in a post-match interview. That compression sleeve was definitely not the biggest aesthetic change Alcaraz made for his big comeback: his long, curling new lid, held back by an Alice band, is a departure from his buzzcut era and has a distinct Premier League energy. He also came out in new Jordans and a full kit designed by rapper Travis Scott.
And after wearing the turquoise-dial Daytona so frequently watch sites started referring to it as “The Alcaraz,” he switched up his wristwear for his comeback, too. On his wrist was the special-edition Rolex Daytona “Le Mans,” which was first released in 2023 as a stainless steel version to commemorate 100 years of the famous Rolex-affiliated 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race.
Alcaraz’s yellow-gold edition followed the next year,
Alcaraz’s yellow-gold edition followed the next year, in 2024. Carlos Alcaraz in a Rolex Daytona is hardly a revelation. This is the fourth variant of the legendary chronograph that he’s been spotted in. When he won Wimbledon in 2024, he wore one in yellow gold, with a rubber strap and meteorite dial—exactly what you’d want to confirm yourself as an out-of-this-world talent.
He’s also worn a platinum, diamond-set Daytona with Eastern Arabic numerals, because why not? Then there’s the aforementioned Alcaraz Daytona. But this latest is the most off-menu yet: a rare model that, beyond the usual yellow-gold Daytona stylings, has a bunch of specific tweaks to nod to the Le Mans race. The “100” on the bezel is marked in red as a hat-tip to the race’s centenary, and the movement was modified so the chronograph can track 24 hours (as you might want to for a day-long endurance race) rather than the typical 12.
What does all this mean for our boy Carlos? He’s clearly going deep into a Daytona-shaped hole, for which we really can’t blame him. And while his previous Daytonas have been quite stylistically distinct, this one looks standard at first glance but has a bunch of IYKYK details. Just as he’s having fun with his hair, he’s having fun with a classically blingy yellow-gold watch—and that Le Mans influence speaks to how his on-court comeback will not be short of dogged determination and stamina.
This story originally appeared on British GQ.
Source: www.gq.com
