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Nick Kyrgios is playing Miami Open and it’s been a special experience for the rising Aussie. Kyrgios defeated Andrey Kuznetsov in straight sets on grandstand to reach his very first Masters Series quarterfinal. But most impressive today for Kyrgios was the surprisingly animated and colorful crowd support he received. Through the second set changeovers a group of young kids continually sang/chanted “Let’s go Nick lets go” over and over and over through entire changeovers and also AFTER the match was completed. I have never seen a foreign player attract and inspire such vocal loyalty and support. Also during the last game of the match when Kyrgios was serving for the win a male fan yelled out in the middle of the game “NO MERCY!” So Nick’s colorful cocky persona is also inspiring colorful cocky crowd support which will surely add a new spicy flavor to the sport. Kyrgios exited the court and signed for a very large throng of fans mostly teenagers and in their twenties… RANDOM NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS: Two players have actually worn all whites this week – Marcel Granollers in doubles and Richard Gasquet today’s loss to Berdych (which their head to head is now deadlocked at 7-7)… Kei Nishikori didn’t start his fourth round Match against Roberto Agut Bautista until 10 at night but he was here practicing in the morning at 11:30. I would have expected Kei to arrive at the site at around six and hit for an hour then play at about nine. You have to respect Kei’s work ethic… Andanina Vilas is the twelve year old daughter of Guillermo Vilas and I was told by an Argentine reporter that she is “winning everything” in Argentina. She is a tall girl (like her Thai mother and legendary father) and employs a one-handed backhand. Andanina Vilas Roland Garros champion 2024?.. . A California tennis insider told me the Taylor Fritz family is very wealthy and there is absolutely no financial pressure on Taylor to win… Benoit Paire the hot tempered Frenchman erupted a few times in a doubles match yesterday against the Aussie wildcards Omar Jasika and John Patrick Smith. Paire and David Marrero lost 63 64 and the sometimes volatile lost his cool several times – repeatedly kicking the fence and trying to jump over the net but mismeasuring his leap so that his foot landed on the net cord and he basically jumped and stepped over the net. A very odd and risky maneuver which could have resulted in a serious injury… Monica Niculescu is into the doubles quarters with Maria Gasparyan – they beat Hingza 64 62 in the second round – and she also had a strange singles match in the second round beating Peng Shuai. In the match Niculescu was up a set 6-1 and 3-0 before suddenly collapsing and losing six straight games. Niculescu looked so exhausted and ill from the extreme heat that Peng’s fitness coach actually thought Niculescu was going to retire as she walked to her chair after the second set. Well guess what? She didn’t retire and her illness / fatigue problems suddenly disappeared. Niculescu handily beat Peng in the third set 6-0… The Bryan Brothers had an early afternoon practice which was amazing to see. They were doing all kinds of astonishing volley drills. Especially one where they both volleyed to each other while both moving and rotating all around their halves of the court. Every ball taken out of the air and volleyed back to the brother and each volley was hit quite hard. It was incredible to witness. The struggling Bryans who did not win a major last year and have blown over a dozen match points this year will play Jasika/Smith in the quarters…Fantastic battle between Djokovic and Thiem today. The score was the exact as their first meeting in China in 2014 63 64 but Djokovic was severely threatened today and was very relieved to get it over with. Thiem proved he has the shots to beat and overpower Djokovic and hung in there all the way. Djokovic had to save over a dozen break points and needed four or five match points to finally subdue this young tiger. After seeing this match and how hard Thiem forced Djokovic to work and struggle I will say right now we now know who the heir apparent will be. After the match Djokovic said Thiem is one of the heaviest baseline hitters on the Tour. Thiem said he’s still not sure if he can beat Djokovic and he will need to review the match to figure out if he can. One thing is for sure: Nobody not even Djokovic will be happy to have Thiem in their quarter of the draw in Paris…

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