." I only won and I yearn for raps," Croatian ping pong star Donna Vekiu0107 proclaims Friday afternoon of the United States Open. She's just trumped Peyton Stearns-- and also after flexing as well as bathing-- her next cease pre-press association is the petit Julien Farel pop-up hair salon concealed inside Queens's Arthur Ashe Arena. "I had actually been waiting all time to view Julian and get raps encouraged through Margot Robbie." More than twenty years earlier, hairdresser Julien Farel approached the USA Ping Pong Association with a concept: a beauty parlor where ping pong players might pop in for a hairstyle, style, or even another type of self-care during the course of the United States Open, one of one of the most high-intensity competitors of their year. "It took them five years to say yes to me," Farel, currently 16 years in to the hair salon collaboration at the Open, informs me along with a smile. "I was very constant given that I understood this will be a perk for several professional athletes. And also I corrected. Today, they await this second ahead in as well as acquire a haircut." Many of the sport's greatest titles have actually sat inside this beauty parlor, which is actually just open throughout the 2 weeks of the competitors: "I reduced Rafael Nadal's hair from lengthy to brief in 2010, that occurred on this site and also it was a significant package. Everybody from Billie Jean King to [Martina] Navratilova has actually sat in these chairs. We possessed Coco here right after she won in 2015's event, too." Vekiu0107 and also her brand-new bangs, newly reduced through Julien Farel.Photographed by Caroline Tompkins.