Carlos Alcaraz eyes tennis clay-court season after early Miami Open exit

MIAMI – World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz remained confident his game is improving despite a third-round exit at the Miami Open, and after a few days to reset he will be turning his attention to the clay-court season.

“Probably I’m going to go back home,” the 22-year-old said after falling 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 to 36th-ranked Sebastian Korda on March 22.

“Chilling with my family, with my friends a couple of days. I don’t know how much my team are going to allow me to have rest and a day off.

“The clay season is around the corner. My mind right now is to take some days off, to reset my mind, reset the batteries, be ready and in good shape for the clay season.”

Korda became the lowest-ranked man to defeat Alcaraz since David Goffin, who was world No. 55 at the time, ousted him in the second round of this event a year ago. The American will next face Spanish qualifier Martin Landaluce for a place in the quarter-finals.

“It feels great,” said the 25-year-old, who has been ranked as high as 15th in the world but has endured two seasons disrupted by injuries. “I took the scenic route, that’s for sure. A little more stress than I would want but happy with how I played, happy with how I stayed with it.”

Alcaraz had built a 73-6 record in the year since his loss to Goffin, including a 16-0 run to start 2026, which saw him claim an Australian Open title that made the 22-year-old the youngest man to complete a career Grand Slam.

He added a title in Doha before a semi-final defeat at Indian Wells, and he knows that every lower-ranked player comes out swinging freely against him.

“Obviously when you’re winning tournaments and you have great record, everything is easier in the way of pressure to the opponents,” he said. “I’m feeling they have more to win than to lose in those matches... they’re playing without pressure.”

The Spaniard is trying to make sure he does not respond by piling pressure on himself.

“I’m not thinking about my pressure,” he said. “I don’t feel it at all. I’m trying to play my best.”

That includes constant work to improve his game and, despite the March 22 result, Alcaraz is confident he is on the right track.

“I would say what I was practising, you know, I think I just did it really well,” he said. “Some couple things in previous tournaments that I just didn’t feel comfortable, I think in this tournament, I started to feel better and better.

“I think the process has been good. Besides the loss today, I think I’m still in the right way.”

In the women’s draw, world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka kept her title defence on track with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over 72nd-ranked American Caty McNally that was tougher than the score indicated.

They were on serve after exchanging four breaks in the opening set when the Belarusian star gained the decisive break in the final game.

The defending champion, trying to complete the “Sunshine Double” after capturing her first Indian Wells title last week, wasted one chance to break in the second set before ramping up the pressure to break McNally on her last two service games.

“She played really great tennis,” Sabalenka said, noting that her hold for 5-4 in the opening set, in a game that went to deuce five times, was key.

“(I’m) super happy to close this match in straight sets,” added the 27-year-old, who booked a meeting with China’s Olympic gold medallist Zheng Qinwen – a 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 winner over American Madison Keys.

It was Zheng’s first win over a top-20 player since undergoing elbow surgery last July.

World No. 2 Elena Rybakina, who beat Sabalenka in the Australian Open final but fell to her in the Indian Wells title match, moved smoothly into the last 16 with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk.

The 26-year-old Kazakh next faces Australian qualifier Talia Gibson, who eliminated former world No. 1 Naomi Osaka.

Meanwhile, world No. 3 Iga Swiatek announced on March 23 that she had parted ways with her coach Wim Fissette following her second-round exit in Miami.

Following quarter-final defeats at the Australian Open, the Doha Open and Indian Wells, six-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek continued her uncertain start to the 2026 season with a three-set loss to Magda Linette in her opening match in Miami. AFP