Sebastian Korda thanked John McEnroe for helping him do some ‘soul searching’ (Image: Getty)
There have been plenty of upsets already at this year’s Miami Open, with Iga Swiatek and Daniil Medvedev among those bowing out early. But the biggest upset of them all came on Sunday, as American ace Sebastian Korda stunned world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz in the third round. Korda served for the match in the second set, but Alcaraz rallied to win four games in a row, stealing the set and forcing a decider.
Korda stayed in it and was rewarded for his efforts, claiming a 6-3 5-7 6-4 victory – his first win over a world No. 1. It was an extra special victory for the world No. 36, who has been ranked inside the top 15, but has struggled with injuries throughout his career. Last year, he was left needing a boot and crutches when a shin stress fracture sidelined him over the summer.
The 25-year-old has finally rediscovered his best form this year. While Alcaraz was busy winning the Australian Open and completing the career Grand Slam on February 1, Korda was competing in a final of his own on the Challenger Tour – the circuit below the ATP Tour – where he lost to Zachary Svajda.
He may have finished runner-up, but the decision to briefly drop down to Challengers paid off for Korda, who got some extra matches and confidence under his belt after a difficult few months. And after earning the biggest win of his career at the Hard Rock Stadium, the American opened up on being in a “really dark hole”.
I mean, it’s tricky, for sure. Obviously, I needed certain things. That’s the reason why I went to go play San Diego, was just to try to put myself in those stressful situations,” Korda explained.
“I’d been injured for so long, missed so many months, got down a really dark hole. Yeah, those were important weeks for me to just kind of figure myself out. Obviously, I wasn’t playing the tennis I’m playing today. Especially mentally, I didn’t feel great.
Sebastian Korda stunned Carlos Alcaraz at the Miami Open (Image: Getty)
“It gave me a little bit of a boost of confidence to throw myself back in those stressful situations, put myself in a match, live in those, kind of like, nasty moments during a match, just those stressful environments. It definitely helped me. If I didn’t play San Diego, I don’t think I’d be sitting here right now.”
Korda also credited two former tennis players for helping him rediscover his best tennis – Ryan Harrison and seven-time Major champion John McEnroe. Harrison recently started coaching the world No. 36, and Korda said: “We work really hard. I think one of the best things about Ryan is we do the work, we talk it over, we discuss, then we try to be normal. We don’t try to overdo it with the tennis, try to have too many emotions.”
And the 25-year-old benefited from a special chat with McEnroe at the recent Dallas Open, where the former world No. 1 was there to compete in an exhibition match. Korda added: “In Dallas, I was actually super fortunate. John McEnroe was playing an exho there. He took a couple of minutes out of his day just to talk to me. That’s one of the things we really talked about, finding my identity on the court.
“He was great, just taking the time out. Especially a player like him, incredible commentator as well. You just kind of see how he sees my game, what he thinks I can use to try and play better tennis. One of the things he said was, ‘You’ve got to go soul searching, you’ve got to figure out who you are, you’ve got to figure out why you play tennis, why you love tennis’. I think that’s been a massive key for me. Grateful that he took the time out of his day to do that.”
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