He stunned Alcaraz in Miami last year, now outside top 150

Carlos Alcaraz was expected to make the most of Jannik Sinner’s absence from last year’s Miami Open, but he ended up losing his only match.

Alcaraz had already enjoyed plenty of success at the event, having won the 2022 tournament, which was also his first Masters 1000 title.

Sinner, who is now a three-time Grand Slam winner, wasn’t part of the field as he was serving a three-month suspension.

Alcaraz entered as one of the favourites in Sinner’s absence but fell in straight sets to Alexandre Muller in just his first match.

David Goffin knocked Carlos Alcaraz out of the Miami Open in 2023

Alcaraz entered last year’s Miami Open as the second seed, giving him a direct path to the second round.

There, he faced David Goffin, who had rallied from a set down to defeat Aleksandar Vukic in his opening match.

Though their head-to-head was even at one win each before this meeting, Alcaraz came in as the clear favourite. But Goffin surprised everyone with a 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 victory.

The loss sparked plenty of questions about Alcaraz’s form. He called it a ‘very poor performance’ and admitted he was struggling mentally.

“It was a very poor performance on my part, I admit it; he was a better player than me,” Alcaraz said afterwards. “I didn’t play well, and I didn’t feel good physically either.

“In these kinds of matches, when you don’t feel that confidence either in terms of tennis skills or physically, everything becomes much harder.”

How has David Goffin fared since the Miami Open last year?

Since that victory over Alcaraz, Goffin’s results on the main tour have been disappointing, picking up just six wins against 14 losses.

He ended the 2025 season outside the top 100, and his ranking has continued to slide ever since.

A knee injury kept him out of this year’s Australian Open, and he didn’t play his first match of the season until February.

The former world number seven hasn’t won a match yet in 2026 and is currently on a five-match losing streak.

After an early exit in Indian Wells qualifying and another loss in a Challenger event in the Dominican Republic, Goffin dropped to world number 156—his lowest ranking since 2012.

He was set to play Miami Open qualifying but pulled out, which means another drop down the rankings is likely on its way.

Currently sitting at world number 175 in the live ATP rankings, it marks nearly 15 years since he was ranked this low.

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