Korda hits the bullseye against Alcaraz and eliminates him in the third round of Miami

Miami (USA) (EFE).- Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz will not have fond memories of his last two years in Miami. Twelve months ago he was eliminated in his debut and this Sunday he was knocked out of the Miami Masters 1,000 (United States) after falling against American Sebastian Korda in the third round.

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Korda, number 36 in the world, won 6-3, 5-7 and 6-4 against Alcaraz, number 1 in the ATP ranking, in 2 hours and 17 minutes of play, in a match that recalled the words that the Spaniard said after being eliminated in Indian Wells. Alcaraz complained that he had “a target on his back” that improved the level of anyone who was his opponent after falling to the Russian Daniil Medvedev in the Californian desert. And today Korda reminded him again. The American had the Spaniard in his sights throughout the match, and was close to winning the match in the second set, when he served to win with 5-4 on the scoreboard. Korda played better than ever in his first match against a number 1 and despaired the Spaniard, who told his bench during the second set that he wanted to go home.

«I’m going home»

Alcaraz’s frustration was understandable, except in the final moments of the second set, the American cleared all the lines of the central court in Miami with his strokes. Korda put pressure on the Spaniard from the start and added 33 winners and 32 unforced errors, compared to Alcaraz’s 30 and 25, respectively.

In the first set, Korda won 42% of the points on the return and took advantage of the second break opportunity he had to put 3-5 on the scoreboard. With his serve, he only suffered in his second game, when he saved two ‘break’ points, and sealed the set with a direct serve.

Alcaraz looked uncomfortable, making more gestures than usual, as he demonstrated when he lost his serve again in the third game of the second set. “I’m going home. I’m going home (…). I can’t take it anymore,” the Spaniard said to his bench, not understanding how he could stop a Korda who interspersed deep shots with more angled ones. Immediately afterwards, Alcaraz had a new break point, but wasted it again and lowered his head, beginning to talk to himself.

Alcaraz comes close to a comeback

The match went this way until the ninth game, when Korda served to win the match with 5-4 on the scoreboard. He had closed his last two service games without scoring, so nothing foreshadowed a change in dynamics, but that’s where number 1 appeared.

Alcaraz pulled out of nowhere three fantastic points that put him 0-40 up, and broke Korda for the first time in the match with a cross-court forehand. Extremely motivated, the Spaniard dominated the next two games to force the third set and received a huge ovation from the stands. There, the score remained tied until 3-3, with no break opportunities for either tennis player. But Alcaraz’s two consecutive forehands went long at 40-40, and he was once again forced to come back. Winning against a number 1 isn’t achieved every day, and Korda yielded to the pressure when he committed the first double fault of the match at the moment he was serving to close out the match. A serve and volley gave him two match points. He was successful on the second, and as happened a year ago against the Belgian David Goffin, Alcaraz, champion of the Miami Open in 2022, was once again eliminated from the tournament. The Spaniard came from winning by a double 6-4 against the Brazilian promise Joao Fonseca (n.39) in the second round, and says goodbye to the hard court tour with two tough defeats in the United States. Korda will face in the round of 16 against the winner of the match between the Spaniard Martín Landaluce (n.151) and the Russian Karen Khachanov (n.15).C