Sebastian Korda produced a stunning serving display to knock Carlos Alcaraz out of the Miami Open.
It’s a testament to Korda’s display that Alcaraz did not play badly at all as he was beaten in three sets in the third round of the Masters tournament.
Korda was delighted to beat Alcaraz and it continues his impressive reaction to being knocked out of the Australian Open first round.
After one of the biggest victories of his career, Korda said tennis legend John McEnroe had a part to play in the win.
Sebastian Korda says John McEnroe’s advice was incredibly helpful
Speaking in his post-match press conference, Korda shared the influence McEnroe has had on him since their meeting at the Dallas Open earlier this year.
McEnroe is a long-time supporter of American tennis and he offered up advice to the star after he had fallen in the rankings.
“It was in Dallas and I was super fortunate because John McEnroe was playing an exhibition there. I was pretty fortunate that he took a couple of minutes out of his day to just talk with me.
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“That was one of the things that we really talked about, trying to find my identity on court. We talked about how I am as a human being, the things that I am going with and he was great, just taking the time out, especially a player like him and an incredible commentator as well.”
McEnroe was frank with Korda, which has clearly worked following his win in and now his scalp over Alcaraz.
Explaining what McEnroe told Korda to do, the American revealed the advice was more introspective than physical.
“We were just trying to see how I see my game, what he thinks I could use to try and play better tennis and one of the things that he said was that you have to go soul searching, you have to figure out who you are and why you play tennis and why you love tennis.
“I think that has been a massive key for me and I’m grateful that he took the time out of his day to do that.”
Korda is on the cusp of the ATP Tour top 40 again following his resurgence, where he currently sits at 41 in the world.
How Sebastian Korda defeated Carlos Alcaraz in Miami
Make no doubt about it, the biggest reason why Korda was able to defeat Alcaraz was down to his incredible serve.
The American hit an impressive 12 aces, but his first serve was deadly accurate throughout all three sets against Alcaraz.
Can Carlos Alcaraz win MORE Grand Slams than Novak Djokovic? 🤔
He hit 69% of his first serves against the world number one, which equated to a whopping 50 points won throughout the match.
He ended the match with an ATP Tour serve rating of 277, which was 17 points higher than Alcaraz managed.
If Korda continues to serve the way he did against Alcaraz, he could be a dark horse to win the Miami Open.
