Sebastian Korda completed a monumental upset last night, beating Carlos Alcaraz to knock him out of the Miami Open.
In doing so, he recorded his first-ever win against a world number one, and what an emphatic victory it was.
Alcaraz rated his own performance after the game, heaping credit on Korda rather than criticising himself.
Meanwhile, the 25-year-old shared the key advice which he felt helped him to topple the world’s best player.
Seb Korda’s immediate reaction after beating Carlos Alcaraz
Korda could not stop smiling as he spoke on-court, live on Sky Sports.
“I took the scenic route today,” he began, laughing as he turned his attention to his elite opponent.
Will Jannik Sinner complete the Career Grand Slam at Roland Garros this year? 🤔
If not, who do you think will win Roland Garros?
“I mean, you know, he’s Carlos, he gets himself out of situations that no one else does so, you know, I knew that coming in. I didn’t want to play that bad a game at 5-4, but you know, credit to him, you know, he applied the pressure when he needed to, and gets things done.”
The American stood firm though, and insisted that belief was the overwhelming motivator that kept him on top in this match.
He then spoke about his team, sharing the pre-match advice which clearly helped his cause: “I’ve gone through a lot of things, played a lot of great players. Haven’t been able to get it done, but I always felt when I was playing these top players that I’d start spraying the ball and try to do a bit too much than I need to do.
“With Ryan, we sat down. Our goal today was to play average. Just have an average ball. Don’t do too much with it. That’s when you get in trouble. That’s kind of what he’s searching for, is you start spraying and you get yourself in trouble against him.”
The reporter, picking up on his ‘average’ comment, then asked: “If that’s average, what’s the top level for you?”
Korda concluded by replying: “I mean the ball speed. Not the way I played, I was as aggressive as possible.
“I served great the whole match. That’s what you need to do to beat a player like him. He’s unbelievable in every aspect of his game. Movement, volleys, forehand, backhand… there’s nothing he can’t do. I had to be aggressive. I had to take the ball out of his hand and take the point in my favour.”
Seb Korda’s record against top ten players
Korda has played and beaten many top-ten players throughout his career, but never before has he beaten the current world number one.
This is undoubtedly the greatest win of his career so far.
Ironically, the first top-ten victory of his career also came at the Miami Open, where he beat Diego Schwartzman to reach the quarter-finals.
| Opponent [ranking] | Year | Event |
| Diego Schwartzman [10] | 2021 | Miami Open |
| Roberto Bautista Agut [9] | 2021 | Halle Open |
| Félix Auger-Aliassime [10] | 2022 | Estoril Open |
| Daniil Medvedev [8] | 2023 | Australian Open |
| Frances Tiafoe [10] | 2023 | Queen’s Club |
| Daniil Medvedev [3] | 2023 | Shanghai Masters |
| Grigor Dimitrov [10] | 2024 | Queen’s Club |
| Alexander Zverev [4] | 2024 | Canadian Open |
| Stefanos Tsitsipas [10] | 2025 | Miami Open |
| Carlos Alcaraz [1] | 2026 | Miami Open |
Since then, he has toppled stars like Daniil Medvedev, Frances Tiafoe and Alexander Zverev.
And yet, yesterday was new territory for Korda, who hadn’t ever managed to overcome a player as talented and revered as Alcaraz, and he should have done it in straight sets too.
His record against top-ten players now stands at ten wins and 23 losses.
