American Sebastian Korda, 36th in the rankings, closed the game in 2 sets to 1, with partials of 6-3, 5-7 and 6-4
In his second defeat of the year, Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz, number 1 in the world, was eliminated this Sunday (22) in the third round of the Masters 1000 in Miami by the American Sebastian Korda, 36th in the ATP rankings. Korda closed the game in 2 sets to 1, with partials of 6-3, 5-7 and 6-4, in two hours and 18 minutes. After starting the year with 16 victories, Alcaraz suffered a defeat in the Indian Wells semifinals last week and falls again this Sunday in Miami, where he had already been eliminated in his debut last year.
Korda is precisely the lowest ranked player to defeat Alcaraz on the ATP circuit since the Belgian David Goffin, who did it in 2015 in Miami, when he was number 55 in the world. The Spaniard had defeated the son of former Czech tennis player Petr Korda in four of the five previous clashes, but this Sunday he had a lackluster start to the game and allowed his opponent to grow.
Alcaraz seemed to react in time, breaking Korda’s serve to win the second half, but in the decisive set he also failed to find his usual level. Miami continues to bring more sadness than joy for the current world number 1 since he won his first Masters 1000 trophy on that same court, in 2022, at just 18 years old.
Since then, he has never returned to the final and now sees the Italian Jannik Sinner, champion in Indian Wells, further reduce his advantage at the top of the ATP rankings.
*With AFP
