." I just won as well as I prefer raps," Croatian ping pong star Donna Vekiu0107 proclaims Friday afternoon of the US Open. She is actually just defeated Peyton Stearns-- and also after extending and also bathing-- her following stop pre-press event is the petit Julien Farel pop-up hair salon hidden inside Queens's Arthur Ashe Stadium. "I had actually been waiting all season to find Julian and also obtain raps encouraged by Margot Robbie." More than two decades back, hairdresser Julien Farel moved toward the USA Ping Pong Organization along with a tip: a beauty parlor where tennis players could possibly pop in for a hairstyle, style, or even an additional type of self-care in the course of the US Open, among the most high-intensity competitors of their year. "It took them 5 years to okay me," Farel, now 16 years into the hair salon relationship at the Open, informs me along with a smile. "I was extremely persistent because I knew this would be actually a perk for several sportsmens. And I was right. Right now, they wait on this moment to come in and get a hairstyle." Much of the sport's greatest titles have sat inside this beauty salon, which is simply available during the two full weeks of the competitors: "I reduced Rafael Nadal's hair from long to short in 2010, that happened on this site and it was a big bargain. Everybody from Billie Jean King to [Martina] Navratilova has beinged in these seats. Our team possessed Coco below straight after she gained in 2015's tournament, too." Vekiu0107 and also her brand-new booms, newly cut by Julien Farel.Photographed by Caroline Tompkins.