"These losses are sometimes good" - says Carlos Alcaraz after defeat against Korda

Carlos Alcaraz suffered a rare setback at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters on Wednesday when he lost in three sets against Sebastian Korda.

It was a very unexpected result despite Korda's prowess on the surface as Alcaraz was simply on fire during the Sunshine double. His level was so high that the Spaniard is considered the 3rd favourite to win the French Open behind Nadal and Djokovic.

He said:

“I’m a bit disappointed with myself. I had a lot of chances to be up in the match and close to winning, but these losses sometimes [are] good to live. You have to play matches. But I didn't think about the expectations that the people have [for] me. I just focussed on me and what I have to do. But as I said, you have to play more matches on clay courts.”

All eyes were on the 18-year-old after his run to the Miami Open presented by Itau title. Alcaraz said that he was not physically and mentally fatigued leading into the year’s first clay-court ATP Masters 1000 event.

“I'm ready to [go] back [to] training and focus on the next tournaments. It [was] a tough match, but I think mentally I'm ready to play these kind of matches, long matches, and tough matches. I mean, mentally and physically, I'm ready.”