Carlos Alcaraz had a poor performance in his first match at the 2025 Miami Open.

World No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz unexpectedly lost 1-2 (7-5; 4-6; 3-6) to “veteran” David Goffin in the opening match of the ATP 1000 Miami Open 2025 tournament this morning (March 22) Vietnam time.

Alcaraz and Goffin fought hard from the very first points, with Carlitos having an early break-point opportunity but failing to capitalize. Missing the opportunity, the young Spaniard almost paid the price when Goffin broke him in game 7, but fortunately he was able to recover the point later. The two sides traded blows after that, and Alcaraz was the one who made a breakthrough in the decisive game 12, getting a break-point/set-point to take a 1-0 lead.

In the second set, both players served very firmly, not revealing any break-point opportunities. The turning point came in Alcaraz’s pivotal serve game when the 2003-born player made a mistake and lost a fatal break, thereby “giving” the victory in the second set to Goffin.

Carlos Alcaraz caused a big disappointment at the Miami Open 2025 (Photo: Getty)
A series of unnecessary errors cost Alcaraz dearly in the deciding third set. Carlitos lost the break in the first service game and could not make a difference when Goffin was too experienced and confident. The 34-year-old Belgian even got another break in the ninth game, sealing the decisive set 6-3 and winning 2-1 overall.

This defeat makes Carlos Alcaraz’s goal of taking the world No. 1 spot from Jannik Sinner – who is banned from competing until May – more distant. In the last 3 tournaments, Alcaraz has not played well, has not been able to reach the championship and will even have points deducted (Alcaraz reached the quarterfinals of Miami Open last season).

Meanwhile, the victory over Alcaraz helped David Goffin enter the third round of this year’s Miami Open, facing Vietnamese-born player – 31st seed Brandon Nakashima.