Carlos Alcaraz certainly didn’t have the best of runs at the Miami Open, where he suffered a shock exit in round three.
Alcaraz lost to Sebastian Korda in his second match of the ATP Masters 1000 event, at which he beat Joao Fonseca following a bye in round one.
The Spaniard was the top seed at the Miami Open, which he entered after losing to Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals of Indian Wells.
Alcaraz now has a 17-2 win-loss record for the 2026 season, in which he has won both the Australian Open and the Qatar Open.
And the 22-year-old has now broken his silence following his latest loss, which came in the form of a 3-6, 7-5, 4-6 defeat to Korda.
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Carlos Alcaraz shares upbeat message despite shock Miami Open exit
An upbeat Alcaraz shared an image of himself waving on his Instagram with the message: “Yesterday it wasn’t to be, but we’ll try again next year!
“Now it’s time to recharge batteries and prepare for the clay swing!”
It’s a typically positive response from the Spanish superstar, who continues to show fantastic maturity despite his youth.
He will, of course, be disappointed with the defeat, but Alcaraz is undoubtedly still the man to catch on the ATP Tour.
The Spaniard is world number one, and worryingly for his rivals now heads to a surface on which he feels very comfortable, although that can be said of hard and grass courts too.
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Carlos Alcaraz should have skipped the Miami Open
It is very simple with hindsight, but perhaps Alcaraz would have been better off skipping the Miami Open altogether.
He had only just enjoyed a lengthy run at Indian Wells, just as he did at both the Australian Open and Qatar Open, which ended in success.
Somewhat worryingly, Alcaraz admitted he “can’t take it anymore” against Korda, in a rare expression of dismay towards his coaches.
Perhaps a more suitable decision was to miss Miami and turn his focus to the clay-court swing, starting by training early on the surface.
He’ll begin at the Monte Carlo Masters, where the youngster will have plenty at stake as he looks to defend his title.
| Tournament | Surface | Result | Win-loss |
| Australian Open | Hard | Won | 7-0 |
| Qatar Open | Hard | Won | 5-0 |
| Indian Wells | Hard | Semifinal | 4-1 |
| Miami Open | Hard | Third round | 1-1 |
One positive from his shock Miami loss is that he’ll now be relatively fresh for Monaco, but he could have been even more prepared had he opted against Miami altogether.
That is a decision that his fellow Australian Open finalist Novak Djokovic took, ahead of what is set to be a very busy and challenging clay-court swing.
After Monte Carlo, Alcaraz is likely to play in Barcelona, Madrid and Rome, before another attempt at Grand Slam glory at the French Open.
Another positive, albeit for the neutral, is that his Miami exit has blown the ATP draw wide open, with sixth seed Taylor Fritz now the highest-ranked player remaining in the top half.
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