Carlos Alcaraz insisted he will not hit the panic button after he slumped to a shock defeat against Sebastian Korda at the Miami Open, as he stated his belief that players are now playing against him with ‘nothing to lose’.
Alcaraz fought back from the brink of defeat against Korda, with the American losing his nerve as he served for the match at 5-4 in the second set, but an impressive Korda battled back from that disappointment and held his nerve to seal a 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 victory in two hours, 19 minutes.
World No 1 was quick to congratulate his opponent on his victory and admitted his serving power troubled him throughout the match, but he made some candid comments over the performances of his rivals after a surprise setback.
Alcaraz suggested he was growing tired of playing with a target on his back after his defeat against Daniil Medvedev in the Indian Wells Masters earlier this month and now he has claimed players like Korda are playing at an elevated level against him as they feel they need to go for more to beat the player who completed the career Grand Slam by winning the Australian Open in January.
“I played a great game and in a lot of tight moments, I didn’t make it. I would say that is the key to the match, so congrats to him. He deserves it,” stated Alcaraz.
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“I didn’t play a good point at a lot of the 30-alls, 40-alls, the advantages. At that moment, Sebby played some great points.
“I spoke a little with my team and we spoke about what I did great and what I did good, but I am still in the right place.
“When you are in that spot [world No 1] and you are winning tournaments, everything is easier with pressure for the opponents when they are playing against the best players in the world.
“It feels like they have more to win than to lose and it feels like they are playing without pressure. That’s how I feel.
“I try to play my best, but my opponents don’t have the pressure that they have when they play against another player.”
When asked to expand on his point, Alcaraz added: “It’s not really good, to be honest. It’s a bit annoying, but you have to accept it and keep going.
“Luckily, I have a lot of weapons on court, but I know that from now on, they [his opponents] are going to play like that and even though he was playing above his normal level, I was there. For the next matches, even if they play like that, I know I will have my chances.”
Korda has been battling injury issues in recent months, so this victory meant even more to him.
“It feels great,” said Korda, as he beat a player ranked at No 1 in the world for the first time in his career.
“I took the scenic route, that’s for sure – a little more stress than I would want, but happy with how I played.
“I kept believing. I got myself in some nasty situations, but I kept going and played really well in the end.”
Alcaraz confirmed he is now planning to head back to Spain and take some time away from tennis before returning to practice on clay courts ahead of the next phase of the tennis season.
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