Once again, I find myself praising Nick Kyrgios. Once again for his honesty, this time it’s for the latest piece that he wrote to playersvoice.com.au, titled ‘The Battle Raging Inside Me’. In this article, he tells of his (lack of) professional/motivation, the death of his grandparents and the effect on him, his competitive streak and how he’s up for the big games, his future, his relationship with the media and a bit about Tomic I never thought I would read! He even speaks about just chilling with his boys back home playing call of duty! People will say I am daft, but I can’t help but feel for him and how he’s portrayed, he is a lad that just wants to be a lad! He has infuriated me at times but that is because he has what I wanted! I am massively surprised he has put the boot in on Tomic, saying they are nothing like each other these days and that he is just a contradiction! He is probably pissed about the constant comparisons, especially as he feels its wide of the mark, so he is definitely right to get that off his chest IMO! On a final note, Muzza keeps having some top banter with Nick on Instagram, great to see, he quite clearly likes Kyrgios and its mutual! I am going to cover all this in another blog in more detail, as Nick is just compelling tbh!

Alison Van Uytvanck won in Quebec. The Belgian beating Timea Babos in the final, Babos having beat top seed Lucie Safarova in the semis. The Hungarian had failed to make a quarter-final since April in Monterrey! Van Uytvanck survived a scare against Wildcard Carol Zhao in the opener but after that looked in control, hammering Tatjana Maria in the semi. Also, good weeks for Frankie Abanda and Sachia Vickery who both made the quarter-finals here, Frankie losing to the eventual champion!

Zarina Diyas made her way through qualies and then went on to win the Tokyo International. She managed to beat last years champion Christina McHale in the semi’s when she looked down and out in the decider. She beat fellow qualifier Miyu Kato in the title decider. Kato having a breakthrough week beating Kristyna Pliskova, Krunic and Jana Fett in the semis. Fett had taken Mladenovic out in the first round, Kiki continues to struggle with her form in the second half of the year. Tiredness must be playing a big part after the early exertions of the season!

Belgium will host France in the final of the Davis Cup in November.  Kyrgios lost the fourth rubber to an on fire David Goffin in Brussels. Goffin’s Davis Cup record is looking decent with 15 wins in his last 16 rubbers. Steve Darcis took out Jordan Thompson in the decisive rubber in a comfortable 4 sets.  Kyrgios actually came from 2 sets to 1 down to beat Darcis on Friday. In Lille, France came back from losing the opening rubber, when Dusan Lajovic beat an out of sorts/form Lucas Pouille. Tsonga booked the hosts place in the final with a 4 set win over Lajovic, having beat Laslo Djere on Friday!

Andy Del Potro