This tennis player cutting her ponytail off is our spirit animal

A moment of bravery...

Svetland Kuznetsova
(Image credit: Rex)

A moment of bravery...

Technically, when it comes to your hair, surely you know best when it comes to what looks good in terms of shape, style and colour? Yet somehow, when you arrive at the hairdresser, free will seems to go out of the window, and the trim you went in for suddenly turns in to an avant garde choppy bob with 10 inches off the lengths.

We’ve all seen these types of 'hair transformation' clips before - a woman sits in the hot spot, long, silky locks pulled tight into a ponytail. And then with one long, slightly drawn-out snip of the scissors, the camera pans to reveal a much shorter blunt ponytail, cut close to the head. The extra hair, no longer attached to its owner, is proudly displayed in the hands of the scissor wielding hairdresser. Cue either tears of joy, or bitter regret.

But what if you're going to shun the hairdresser altogether, take back the power and cut your hair yourself? If this is the case, then there's one thing you need to know: if you’re going to D.I.Y your hair, you need to have the guts to go all the way...

Last night, this bravery was put on show, on a tennis court of all places. Russian tennis player Svetlana Kuznetsova was competing in the Women's Tennis Association final match in Singapore and she did the unthinkable. Live on TV.

Despite winning her first set, Kuznetsova was put under pressure in the following set. Something was distracting her. Her ponytail kept flicking into her face. But rather than re-tie or simply pop into a bun, she decided to take a slightly more drastic approach – presumably this was all the adrenaline - and crudely chopped off her ponytail. Problem solved.

In case you're wondering... she went on to the win the match.

This act of bravery makes Kuznetsova our new spirit animal; sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta to do - even if it means five years of regrowth.

Sunil Makan
Editor

Sunil Makan is the Editor of British Marie Claire. With over 15 years of publishing experience, working on print publications and their digital counterparts, national newspapers and digital pure plays he is an Editor, Strategist, Content Producer, Creative Director and Brand Consultant.

Sunil’s specialisms include Fashion, Beauty and Grooming, Lifestyle and Culture. Prior to Marie Claire, Sunil worked at ELLE, InStyle and Shortlist Media and freelanced at various other titles.