MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Carlos Alcaraz was eliminated in the third round of the Miami Open on Sunday, losing in three sets to Sebastian Korda.
The 22-year-old Alcaraz, who completed the career Grand Slam by winning the Australian Open in January, has fallen to 17-2 this season. The No. 1 ranked player in the men’s rankings also lost to Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals in Indian Wells last weekend.
Korda was serving for the match in the second set at 5-4, but Alcaraz bounced back with a five-game winning streak. The 25-year-old Korda then recovered and won 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 in two hours and 19 minutes.
“Obviously it was a tough game,” Alcaraz said. “I thought (Korda) was amazing today. He had a really great game. There were a lot of tie moments, but we didn’t make the most of them. And I think he was better in (those) points and (those) moments.”
According to the ATP Tour, the 36th-ranked Korda became the lowest-ranked player to beat Alcaraz since 55th-ranked David Goffin accomplished the feat in the second round in Miami last year.
“There are definitely a lot of tense moments,” Korda said. “But when I think about it today, I think the ultimate thing was belief. I just went back to believing and committing to every shot. And luckily, I was able to get it done in the end.”
Korda’s next match is the winner between 14th seed Karen Khachanov and qualifier Martin Landaluce.
Americans Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul joined Korda in the fourth round. No. 6 seed Fritz defeated Riley Opelka 6-3, 6-4, and No. 22 Paul defeated Rafael Collignon 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (5).
21st place Jiri Rehekka and 29th place Tomas Martin Etcheverry were also among the winners.
On the women’s side, third-seeded Elena Rybakina advanced with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over 27th-seeded Marta Kostyuk. No. 5 Jessica Pegula defeated No. 26 Leila Fernandez 6-2, 6-2.
7th place Jasmine Paolini, 9th place Elina Svitolina, 11th place Ekaterina Alexandrova, and 18th place Iva Jovic were eliminated. Paolini lost in three sets to world No. 25 Jelena Ostapenko, and Svitolina lost in straight sets to Haley Baptiste.
