Fandom, of course, can take many forms: Everywhere-all-at-once Swifties have recently made fiscal history, spending—according to the Federal Reserve—$5 billion around Eras-tour shows. Viral TikTok clips show Beyoncé or Nicki Minaj holding their mics out during concerts, with the crowd knowing each and every word, intonation, and pause. And sometimes it’s less about finding commonality and more about pursuing a kind of fandom of fantasy—hello, Disney Adults.
In this case, though, it’s six Italian guys who dress up as carrots.
Dubbed the Carota Boys, these supporters cheer exclusively for the current world number four men’s tennis player, Italy’s Jannik Sinner. In the last year they have become fixtures at tournaments around the world—and at the Australian Open in Melbourne (where Sinner will play Novak Djokovic in the semifinals tomorrow) they have completed their own fan Grand Slam: They’ve now been to every major to support their king.
Along the way, they’ve become one of professional tennis’ most visible off-court phenomena (those bright orange costumes are easy marks for cameramen). Even Sinner himself has said “they are becoming more famous than me.” And to think it all started because, years ago, one member of the group saw Sinner eating a carrot during a changeover (others, of course, have said their costumes are a nod to the player’s red hair). Below, two of the six Carota Boys—Alessandro Dedominici and Lorenzo Ferrato—tell us about their arrival on the scene, where they get their costumes made, and how strange it is, as fans, to have their own fans.
How do you guys know each other?
Lorenzo: We grew up together in this town of 4,000, Revello—
Alessandro: It’s in the north of Italy, near Torino.
Lorenzo: —and we have known each other since around age six or seven. Now we range in age from 26 to 29. We did primary school, secondary school, and of course high school all together, so it’s a long friendship. And maybe this is the secret to the success of this: We have the same idol, and we know each other very well.
And how long have you been fans of Jannik?
Lorenzo: We—all six of us—play tennis, and we’ve watched tennis on TV together for many, many years. And of course we followed Jannik from a few years ago, and we saw him play live for the first time in Monte Carlo in 2021. But we started to follow him in this carrot costume just from 2023.
Oh yes—we’ve all seen you (and when I saw you in person—from a distance—at the U.S. Open last year, a lot of people around me had their iPhones on you and not the court. But now you’ve just completed your own circuit of Slams, haven’t you?
Alessandro: We have. We’ve now been to all four.
Do you work in tennis? How are you able to travel as much as you do?
Alessandro: No, no we don’t have jobs in tennis! The six of us have six different jobs: I sell meat; another is an employee in the R&D center of a multinational company; another has a family company that produces plastic bags.
Lorenzo: Four of us are independent workers, though, which makes it a little easier. Not me—I have an office job.
Are you making money doing this now? Do you get deals?
Alessandro: We don’t receive money—but, for example, with Australia, the Australian Open travel group got us our accommodations, transportation, flight, hotel, and ticket to the tournament. Lavazza, the coffee company, hosted us at the French Open.
Out of the six of you, who was the first to have the idea to wear the carrot costumes—and did the rest need convincing?
Alessandro: It was one in our group named Francesco. Some weeks before the 1000-level tournament in Rome, Francesco sent our WhatsApp group this costume idea—and yeah, I think some of us at the beginning were not so convinced about it.
Lorenzo: And you can understand why: It’s something ridiculous.
Alessandro: At the beginning, we bought the tickets for Rome months before the tournament, so we had no idea if Jannik would even be playing or not—and he ended up playing the day we were there. If he had played the next day, maybe the Carota Boys would never be.
Are these carrots… Halloween costumes? Do you buy them, or does someone make them for you?
Alessandro: We actually bought the original costumes on Amazon—
Lorenzo: —then we asked a company near our town, which produces kidswear, if they would design one for us.
Alessandro: Now it has our logo and everything.
You’ve met Jannik, yes? Do you keep in touch?
Alessandro: We’ve had a few meetings with him. The first was in New York—we took a photo with him there. But now we’re in touch regularly, because we have a WhatsApp group all together.
Lorenzo: Of course, during the tournaments he is really focused, so we just will write a quick word of encouragement—
Alessandro: —but it’s amazing.
And the whole thing has really caught on—the cameras love you. With all this recognition, what has been the craziest moment with fans?
Lorenzo: It is honestly a little weird and strange—we’re in a lot of selfies—but one of the most strange things is: In Italy, there is a famous TV program that’s on at dinnertime, and some days ago we were brought up, and suddenly our parents, our friends, everyone was asking us about it.
Alessandro: It’s ridiculous—all because one day we decided to put on carrot costumes.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.