Rising American tennis star Sebastian Korda is cooking in Florida.
A month after beating world’s No. 23 Tommy Paul to win the Delray Beach Open title, the 25-year-old Korda has scored the win of a lifetime, beating Carlos Alcaraz in the third round of the Miami Open.
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 2 hours, 19 minutes.
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.
‘I took the scenic route, that’s for sure,’ Korda told ATPTour.com. ‘There was a little more stress than I would want, but I’m happy with how I played, happy with how I stayed with it. I kept believing. I got myself in some nasty situations, but I kept going and played really well in the end.’
Sebastian Korda of USA reacts after winning the match against Carlos Alcaraz of Spain during the Men’s Singles Third Round match at the 2026 Miami Open
Korda served for the match at 5-4 in the second, but Alcaraz (pictured) rallied to force a third
Remarkably, Korda is just the sixth American man to defeat the world No. 1 since 2015.
Next up for Korda is the winner of 14th-seeded Karen Khachanov versus qualifier Martin Landaluce.
After Sunday’s win, Korda credited new coach Ryan Harrison for his recent improvements after a string of injuries in 2025.
‘It was a lot of soul searching,’ Korda said. ‘I’ve gone through a lot of things. I’ve played a lot of great players but haven’t always been able to get it done. I felt when I was playing these top players, I was just spraying the ball and trying to do too much. I sat down with Ryan, and our goal today was to play average, to not try and do too much with it.’
The 22-year-old Alcaraz dropped to 17-2 this season with Sunday’s loss at the Miami Open
Remarkably, Korda is just the sixth American man to defeat the world No. 1 since 2015
Americans Taylor Fritz and 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 and No. 29 Tomas Martin Etcheverry also were among the winners.
On the women’s side, No. 3 seed Elena Rybakina advanced with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over No. 27 Marta Kostyuk. 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 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.
