." I just gained and I want raps," Croatian tennis celebrity Donna Vekiu0107 announces Friday mid-day of the US Open. She's just beaten Peyton Stearns-- as well as after flexing and showering-- her next stop pre-press conference is the petit Julien Farel pop-up salon concealed inside Queens's Arthur Ashe Stadium. "I had actually been actually standing by all time to observe Julian as well as get thumps encouraged through Margot Robbie." More than two decades earlier, hair stylist Julien Farel came close to the United States Tennis Association along with an idea: a hair salon where ping pong gamers could drop by for a haircut, type, or even another type of self-care throughout the United States Open, among the absolute most high-intensity competitors of their year. "It took all of them five years to say yes to me," Farel, now 16 years into the hair salon partnership at the Open, informs me with a smile. "I was really chronic because I understood this would certainly be actually a perk for a lot of sportsmens. As well as I was right. Today, they await this minute to come in and also obtain a haircut." A lot of the sport's largest names have rested inside this hair salon, which is simply available during both weeks of the competition: "I reduced Rafael Nadal's hair from lengthy to quick in 2010, that happened on this site and it was a significant offer. Everybody coming from Billie Jean King to [Martina] Navratilova has actually sat in these seats. Our company possessed Coco listed here right after she gained in 2015's event, also." Vekiu0107 and also her brand-new bangs, fresh reduced by Julien Farel.Captured by Caroline Tompkins.