Sebastian Korda’s third-round win over Carlos Alcaraz at the Miami Open was the upset of the tournament so far. The 32nd seed defeated the world No. 1 in a three-set battle, firing 12 aces and 38 winners. However, in the next round against Martin Landaluce, his Miami campaign ended. But his loss could not overshadow what he had already achieved. Looking deeper, what actually helped Korda stage a comeback and beat the top player was a brief conversation with John McEnroe.

Korda revealed that while playing at the Dallas Open, where he reached the quarterfinals, he got an opportunity to interact with John McEnroe.

“In Dallas, I was actually super fortunate. John McEnroe was playing an exhibition there. He took a couple of minutes out of his day just to talk to me. That’s one of the things we really talked about, finding my identity on the court,” Korda said, as per Express.

The seven-time Grand Slam champion’s message was direct and cut straight to what Korda had been missing during those difficult months away from the game because of injury. 

“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,” Korda added.

Before injuries intervened, the 25-year-old was one of the most exciting Americans on the ATP Tour. He had climbed to a career-high ranking of World No. 15 in 2024. He reached his first Masters 1000 semifinal in Canada, where he was met with an elbow injury. Subsequently, a shin stress fracture in 2025 wiped out months of momentum, bringing his rank down to 86. He made a comeback after McEnroe’s advice, winning his first title after 18 months. 

Korda defeated notable players en route to the title. He went past Casper Ruud, Flavio Cobolli, and finally Tommy Paul to seal the victory. Alongside the McEnroe conversation, the American also had a strong working relationship with coach Ryan Harrison. A former pro himself, he assisted him in striking the right balance between preparation and composure.

“We work really hard. I think one of the best things about Ryan is that we do the work, we talk it over, we discuss, and then we try to be normal. We don’t try to overdo it with the tennis, try to have too many emotions,” Korda said.

Other than McEnroe’s advice and the helping hand of coach Harrison, he credited one more thing that helped him get his things back on track. 

Sebastian Korda credits the Challenger Tour for his comeback

After the first-round exit at the Australian Open, Sebastian Korda made a conscious decision to drop down to the Challenger circuit and test himself at that level. He participated in the San Diego event before entering the U.S. hard-court swing. 

“I’d been injured for so long, missed so many months, got down a really dark hole. Yeah, those were important weeks for me to just kind of figure myself out. I mean, it’s tricky, for sure. Obviously, I needed certain things. That’s the reason why I went to play San Diego, was just to try to put myself in those stressful situations,” Korda stated.

The Challenger stint was not about rankings, but it was about finding out what it was like to compete under pressure and still come out the other end.

“It gave me a little bit of a boost of confidence to throw myself back into those stressful situations, put myself in a match, live in those, kind of like, 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,” he added.

The world No. 36 reached the final of the event and lost to compatriot Zachary Svajda in straight sets. This did not matter, as his goal was fulfilled. After that, he made the quarterfinals of the Dallas Open, won a title in Delray, and now recorded his career-best win at the Miami Open against Alcaraz. 

Korda is now aware of who he is on a tennis court once again, and the advice coming from McEnroe turned out to be the most crucial thing of all.