Miami Open: Sebastian Korda reveals ‘key’ advice John McEnroe gave him before Carlos Alcaraz upset
Following his stunning win against Carlos Alcaraz at the 2026 Miami Open, Sebastian Korda has revealed the “key” advice he received from tennis legend John McEnroe last month.
Korda upset Alcaraz, the world No 1 and a seven-time Grand Slam winner, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 in the third round of the Masters 1000 tournament in Miami on Sunday.
It was Korda’s second victory over Alcaraz after he defeated the Spaniard at the 2022 Monte Carlo Masters — and his first-ever victory against a world No 1.
In his post-match press conference, Korda shed light on a conversation he had with former world No 1 McEnroe during the Dallas Open in February.
“Actually in Dallas, I was actually super fortunate. John McEnroe was playing an exhibition there,” the 25-year-old American explained.
“I was pretty fortunate that he took a couple minutes out of his day to just talk with me. That’s one of the things we really talked about was trying to find my identity on the court. [We] just talked about how I am as a human being, things that I’m going with.
“He was great. Especially a player like him, incredible commentator as well, you just kind of see how he sees my game, what he thinks I could use to try and play better tennis.
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“And one of the things he said was, ‘You’ve got to go soul searching. You’ve got to figure out who you are. You’ve got to figure out why you play tennis, why you love tennis.’
“I think that’s been a massive key for me. Grateful that he took the time out of his day to do that.”
The world No 36 also spoke about the importance of his decision to play the Challenger event in San Diego after his opening round exit at the 2026 Australian Open.
“I needed certain things. That’s the reason why I went to go play in San Diego, just to try to put myself in those stressful situations,” Korda said.
“I’d been injured for so long, missed so many months, and got down a really dark hole. Those were important weeks for me to just figure myself out.
“Obviously I wasn’t playing the tennis that I’m playing today. Especially mentally, I didn’t feel great.
“It gave me a little bit of a boost of confidence to throw myself back in those stressful situations, put myself in a match, live in those nasty moments during a match, just those stressful environments.
“It definitely helped me. If I didn’t play San Diego, I don’t think I’d be sitting here right now.”
Korda will play 151st-ranked qualifier Martin Landaluce, a 20-year-old Spaniard, in the last 16 in Miami on Tuesday.
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