Carlos Alcaraz loses to Sebastian Korda in the third round of the Miami Open

Carlos Alcaraz of Spain [AP Photo]

Carlos Alcaraz was eliminated in the third round of the Miami Open yesterday [Macau time], losing to Sebastian Korda in three sets.

The 22-year-old Alcaraz, who completed the career Grand Slam when he won the Australian Open in January, dropped to 17-2 this season. The No. 1 player in the men’s rankings also lost to Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals at Indian Wells last weekend.

Korda served for the match at 5-4 in the second, but Alcaraz rallied by winning five consecutive games. The 25-year-old Korda then regrouped and closed out a 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 victory in two hours, 19 minutes.

“It was a tough match, obviously,” Alcaraz said. “I think (Korda) was incredible today. Played such a great game. A lot of tied moments that I just didn’t make the most of it, and I think he was better on (those) points and (those) moments.”

At No. 36, Korda became the lowest-ranked man to beat Alcaraz since No. 55 David Goffin accomplished the feat in the second round in Miami last year, according to the ATP Tour.

“A lot of tense moments, for sure,” Korda said. “But you know I think today, the ultimate thing was belief. Going back to just believing, committing into every shot, and luckily I got it done at the end.”

Next up for Korda is qualifier Martin Landaluce, who advanced with a 6-3, 7-6 (2) win against 14th-seeded Karen Khachanov.

Americans Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul joined Korda in the fourth round. The sixth-seeded Fritz beat Reilly Opelka 6-3, 6-4, and No. 22 seed Paul eliminated Raphael Collignon with a 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (5) victory.

No. 21 Jiri Lehecka, No. 24 Valentin Vacherot and No. 29 Tomas Martin Etcheverry also were among the winners.

On the women’s side, top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka cruised to a 6-4, 6-2 win against Catherine McNally. No. 3 Elena Rybakina beat No. 27 Marta Kostyuk 6-3, 6-4, and No. 5 Jessica Pegula posted a 6-2, 6-2 win over No. 26 Leylah Fernandez.

No. 7 Jasmine Paolini, No. 9 Elina Svitolina, No. 11 Ekaterina Alexandrova, No. 15 Madison Keys and No. 18 Iva Jovic were eliminated. Paolini lost to No. 25 Jelena Ostapenko in three sets, and Svitolina was knocked out by Hailey Baptiste in straight sets. MDT/AP