Carlos Alcaraz will not have fond memories of his last two years in Miami. The world number one was knocked out of the tournament following two tough defeats in the United States. Alcaraz lost to American Sebastian Korda in the third round of the Miami Open (ATP Masters 1000) with a score of 6-3, 5-7, 6-4. The match lasted 2 hours and 17 minutes. Last year, he was also eliminated from the tournament in his debut. Alcaraz, the 2022 Miami Open champion, had beaten Brazilian prospect Joao Fonseca 6-4, 6-4 in the second round. In this matchup, Korda, the world's No. 36 player, dominated for most of the match. He put pressure on the Spaniard from the very beginning, especially with his backhand, and recorded 33 winners to 32 unforced errors. For Alcaraz, those numbers were 30 and 25, respectively. In the first set, Korda won 42% of points on the backhand and took his second break point opportunity to make it 3-5. In the second set, Alcaraz showed character, coming back from a 5-4 deficit to force a tiebreaker. However, Korda regained control in the final set. Alcaraz looked frustrated and exhausted. He even told his bench, "I'm going home... I can't take it anymore." In the ninth game of the third set, Korda was serving for the match at 5-4. But Alcaraz managed to win two points in a row, and Korda succumbed to pressure, committing his first double fault of the match while serving for the match. Ultimately, Alcaraz could not capitalize on his chance and lost. "I can't take it anymore today," the Spaniard said in frustration. Korda, however, secured the biggest win of his career and advanced to the quarterfinals, where he will face the winner of the match between Martin Landaluce and Karen Khachanov.
