.” I just won and also I prefer thumps,” Croatian ping pong superstar Donna Vekiu0107 announces Friday mid-day of the US Open. She is actually simply beaten Peyton Stearns– and after extending and also bathing– her next quit pre-press conference is actually the petit Julien Farel pop-up hair salon hidden inside Queens’s Arthur Ashe Coliseum. “I had been hanging around all season to view Julian and also obtain thumps influenced by Margot Robbie.” Much more than two decades back, hairstylist Julien Farel moved toward the USA Tennis Affiliation with an idea: a hair salon where ping pong gamers could possibly drop by for a haircut, style, or even an additional form of self-care throughout the US Open, some of the absolute most high-intensity competitions of their year.
“It took them five years to say yes to me,” Farel, currently 16 years right into the hair salon relationship at the Open, informs me with a smile. “I was quite consistent due to the fact that I recognized this would be actually a perk for several professional athletes. And also I corrected.
Now, they expect this minute to come in and also acquire a haircut.” A lot of the sporting activity’s largest labels have sat inside this beauty parlor, which is just open throughout the two weeks of the competitors: “I reduced Rafael Nadal’s hair from long to brief in 2010, that took place right here and also it was a big offer. Everybody coming from Billie Jean Master to [Martina] Navratilova has sat in these seats. Our company had Coco listed here right after she won in 2015’s tournament, as well.” Vekiu0107 and her brand-new booms, newly cut by Julien Farel.Photographed through Caroline Tompkins.