Sebastian Korda delivered the most shocking upset of the year so far by defeating Carlos Alcaraz in the third round of the Miami Open.
Seeded 32nd at the ATP Masters 1000 event, Korda beat Alcaraz in three sets, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 to advance to round four.
The American earned the biggest win of his career against the Spaniard, securing his first ever victory over a world number one.
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Korda will now take on Alcaraz‘s compatriot, Martin Landaluce, for a place in the Miami Open quarterfinals.
After his triumph over the world’s best player, the US star’s coach, Ryan Harrison, revealed how he was able to get over the line.
Ryan Harrison analyses Seb Korda’s match against Carlos Alcaraz
Speaking on Sky Sports, Harrison said: “We talked a little bit about it going into the start, and it was one of those things where early on in the match, we really believed that he had the firepower to go toe-to-toe with him.
“Carlos’ movement is incredible, but we felt like his [Korda’s] serve was something that if he was able to serve well and get some free points on serve, that could make things a little bit more pressure-filled for Carlos in some of those long, extended rallies.
“As he built to the second set, we were really talking about starting the second set well, because a lot of times you see a top player lose a set, they get the energy back, and then they all of a sudden start rolling.
“So there was a big emphasis on starting out the second set well. He broke early, and he nearly got the double break, which was so close, second serve for the double break.
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“And then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, here comes Carlos, starts putting more balls on the court. He starts using that notable speed that he has to make it a little bit more difficult for Sebi, who was just trying to get through the match.
“And then we heard the crowd, right? The moment that Alcaraz started getting a little bit of an inkling to break back, the crowd became a factor.
“What’s not easy to do is play safe margins, because Carlos does move so well. So you feel like you have to put the margins even more and more fine, even closer to the sidelines.
“And some of those mistakes, Sebi’s just trying to be a little bit too perfect in that moment to close it out. But we were talking about it. I said, you don’t need to be perfect.
“You need to just ask the question, ask the question, and see if you can ask the question enough times. He finally got the break there in the third set, and we were able to hold on to it.”
Ryan Harrison discusses Seb Korda’s comeback from injury
Korda was sidelined for two and a half months last season due to a stress fracture, which saw his ranking drop to 86th in the world.
“It’s been a lot of building back because throughout last year, a lot of injuries,” said Harrison. He had a bad fracture in his shin. We put him out for almost four months.
“When he started coming back, there were some other little niggles that kept bothering him a little bit. Your body is away from the game for a while.
“And then when you try to get back into it, sometimes things hurt, which I’m reminded of every time I try to hit with him. Every time I try to even hit about five minutes, I start hurting and I end up, you know, icing down as if I played a marathon myself.
“But for Sebby, he takes these moments in stride because we’ve talked about this. You’re knocking on the door, trying to break through against the top players.
“He had a good opportunity against Fritz a couple of weeks ago in Dallas. He couldn’t close that one out from 5-2 up in the third-set tiebreaker.
“He had a good chance last week against De Minaur. So we just knew that he was asking the question a lot. But to stay with it, especially after not closing the second set, really, really good mental effort.”
Korda is currently ranked 42nd in the live ATP rankings.
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