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Bizarre fan theory to ruin Federer's Wimbledon campaign?

Roger Federer is shooting for an unprecedented eighth Wimbledon title, but a number of fans have a strange theory as to why he won't win.

After a two-month break from the ATP tour to rest up for Wimbledon, Federer is back in action at the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart this week.

He hit the practice court on Tuesday and spoke to the media, and fans noticed something markedly different about him.

The World No.5 is sporting a much shorter hair cut than we've previously seen, and his legion of fans are in somewhat of a tizz about it.

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Long-gone is the pony tail from the early days of his career, but we've never really seen his hair this short.

Fans have flocked to social media with some wide-ranging reactions:

While the hair was generally received well, some fans are not happy:

One even joked that he'd lost his hair watching Rafael Nadal's incredible form:

However a strange conspiracy theory has been put forward by a number of punters, who believe Federer's short hair will see his form decline.

Federer also sported short hair back in 2013 when he suffered a shock second-round loss to world No.116 Sergiy Stakhovsky.

So will Federer's haircut have a Samson effect and rob him of his power? Only time will tell.

The former world No.1 says he's eager to get back to competition after a 10-week layoff.

"There are no more breaks now," he told the ATP's official website.

"I've had enough breaks. I'm a practice world champion now and that's not who I want to be. I want to be a champ on the match courts.

"So I'm going to be playing a regular schedule for the second part of the season. And, this is the beginning here at the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart."