Monte-Carlo Masters 2022: Did the anticipation of Djokovic vs Alcaraz in QF jinx it for them?

Young sensation Sebastian Korda edged past the Spaniard 7-6(2), 6-7(5), 6-3 on Wednesday to reach the third round of the first tournament of an intense clay-court season.

First, it was world number one Novak Djokovic, and now it is Miami Open 2022 champion Carlos Alcaraz who have found themselves knocked out of the Monte-Carlo Masters. Young sensation Sebastian Korda edged past the Spaniard 7-6(2), 6-7(5), 6-3 on Wednesday to reach the third round of the first tournament of an intense clay-court season.

World number 11 Alcaraz, who has often pegged as the next Rafa Nadal, arrived in Monte-Carlo in red-hot form, having clinched his maiden ATP Masters 1000 crown in Miami. However, the 18-year-old sensation was unable to cope with the challenges of the clay-court and faced some heavy-hitting from Korda on Court Rainier III.

With this victory, the American gained retribution for his defeat to Alcaraz at the 2021 Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals. "It was nice to get the victory today, Korda said in his on-court interview. 

"I stayed calm and believed in my returning. It was super tough. Every time he threw up the ball, it moved around. It was a crazy match," he added.

The World No. 42 will next face Indian Wells champion Taylor Fritz or Croatian Marin Cilic as he aims to reach his second quarter-final of the season. The 21-year-old American has tasted success on clay-court before, with his only tour-level title coming on the surface in Parma last year. 

Meanwhile, Alcaraz became the youngest ATP 500 champion when he captured the trophy on clay in Rio de Janeiro in February.

Several tennis fans took to Twitter to express their anguish following the Spaniard's shock exit, stating the hype around the possibility of a Novak Djokovic vs Carlos Alcaraz showdown in the quarter-finals jinxed both players' chances in the tournament. The World number one suffered a shocking defeat against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in his opening clash at the Monte-Carlo Masters.

The Serbian, who played in just his second tournament of the year following his refusal to get vaccinated against Covid-19, lost 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 6-1 to the 46th-ranked Spaniard after dropping his serve eight times.

Here's a look at some of the reactions on the micro-blogging site Twitter: