Miami Open: World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz suffers surprise third-round loss to American Sebastian Korda

World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz was eliminated from the Miami Open in the third round after a surprise loss to Sebastian Korda 6-3 5-7 6-4.

Top-seeded Alcaraz, 22, struggled in the first set, giving the U.S. an early advantage, but Korda seemed to blow his chance in the second set.

Korda’s serve led 5-4, but was broken by the Spaniard, who then won the next two games to force the match into a third set.

Alcaraz upped the ante, but Korda kept his nerve, seizing a break opportunity in the third game when his opponent missed a forehand to make it 4-3.

Korda, ranked 36th in the world, confidently held serve in the next two games to end the match – Alcaraz received the serve and sealed the victory on the second match point.

“It feels great,” said Korda, who defeated a top player for the first time in his career and won in 2 hours and 19 minutes.

“I took the scenic route, that’s for sure – a little more pressure than I would have liked, but happy with my performance.

“I always believed. I got into some bad situations, but I kept going and ended up playing really well.”

Korda, 25, is the lowest-ranked player to defeat Alcaraz since world No. 55 David Goffin of Belgium defeated the Spaniard in the second round in Miami last year.

Alcaraz won his seventh Grand Slam title with victory at the Australian Open, having suffered his first defeat of the season until this year when he lost to Daniil Medvedev in the Indian Wells semi-finals.

Korda, who reached the Miami Open quarterfinals in 2021 and 2025 but never went further, will face 14th seed Karen Khachanov or qualifier Martin Landalus in the fourth round.