3 min readMar 23, 2026 04:18 PM IST
World No 1 Carlos Alcaraz said he was looking forward to “going back home” and chilling with his friends after his stay in Miami ended quickly after he lost in the third round of the Miami Open to Sebastian Korda.
Alcaraz lost 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 in two hours, 19 minutes. But in fact, Korda could have ended the Spaniard’s evening even earlier as he was serving for the match at 5-4 in the second set.
The American tennis ace is No 36 in the ATP rankings, thus making him the lowest-ranked man to defeat the Spaniard since World No. 55 David Goffin stunned Alcaraz in the second round in Miami last year.
“Probably I am going to go back home, which I am looking forward to,” Alcaraz said after the defeat. “Stay chilling with my family, with my friends [for a] couple of days. I don’t know how much my team is going to allow me to have a rest and a day off. All of a sudden I just [have to get] back on track, go back on the court. The clay season is around the corner. I have really good tournaments that I am just excited about playing there. My mind right now is to take some days off, to reset my mind, reset the batteries, and be ready in good shape for the clay season.”
Defeat for Alcaraz is his second this year after he was handed a defeat a week back to Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals at Indian Wells. He started the year with a perfect 16-0 record (which also included his run to the Australian Open title). But now Alcaraz has lost two of his past three matches.
Alcaraz praised his opponent, the 26-year-old from the USA, for the qualities he showed.
“It was a tough match, obviously,” Alcaraz said. “I think (Korda) was incredible today. Played such a great game. A lot of tied moments that I just didn’t make the most of it, and I think he was better on (those) points and (those) moments.”
Korda meanwhile, said that the key to defeating Alcaraz was having the belief that he could do it. After allowing Alcaraz to mount a comeback at the end of the second set, he even joked about taking the “scenic route” to victory.
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“There were a lot of tense moments, for sure,” Korda said. “But you know I think today, the ultimate thing was belief. Going back to just believing, committing into every shot, and luckily I got it done at the end.”
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