Carlos Alcaraz was beaten by Sebastian Korda for the biggest win of his season, adding another upset at Monte-Carlo Masters.
He joins Novak Djokovic as the biggest attractions that have failed to make it to the latter stages of the competition.
The American won the contest 7-6(2), 6-7(5), and 6-3 to reach the third round.
Now World No. 11, Alcaraz arrived in Monte-Carlo in red-hot form, having captured his maiden ATP Masters 1000 crown in Miami.
However, the 18-year-old, who was making his debut at the clay-court event, was unable to cope with Korda’s heavy-hitting, variety, and the windy conditions.
Korda raced into a 4-2 lead in the first set, however, Alcaraz then started to find his range, rolling off three straight games. He was twice unable to serve out the set though as Korda returned with great depth before playing the more consistent tennis in the tie-break to lead.
Korda then showed his fighting spirit in the second set as he battled back from 0-3 down as both players struggled to find their range from the baseline in a topsy-turvy clash. The American saved three set points on serve at 4-5, leaving another tie-break to decide the set.
Carlos Alcaraz demonstrated his recent winning mentality in the tie-break, hanging in rallies and executing drop shots to perfection to level.
The cat-and-mouse points continued in the third set, with both looking to drag each other around the court with deft touches. The match remained finely poised until deep into the deciding set when Korda broke to move 5-3 ahead before the American served out to triumph.
With his three-hour, one-minute victory, Korda gained revenge for his defeat to Alcaraz at the 2021 Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals, where the Spaniard triumphed in the championship match.
The World No. 42 will next face Indian Wells champion Taylor Fritz as he aims to reach his second quarter-final of the season.
