The draw has completely opened up for the most hated and the most loved tennis player in the world.

Meanwhile he’s making quick work of his opponents. However, not without some controversy. First, let’s talk about the tennis piece. In the first round he dominated a solid ATP pro in Stevie Johnson. It was straight sets for Kyrgios. For his second round against Antoine Hoang in the second round it was a solid, subdued and business-like straight set win. This now sets up a clash against talented Russian Andrey Rublev. Believe it or not, Rublev may be the toughest opponent he faces until a potential showdown with Rafa Nadal in the semifinals – boy would that be something!

Fortunately for Kyrgios, his quarter was full of “Next Gen” stars, and we know what happens to these guys when they hit a Grand Slam. They lose. Thiem, Tsitsipas, and Auger-Aliassime went down in the first round, along with solid Spanish veteran Bautista Agut. That’s three top ten players that he no longer has to go through. The most dangerous player he has to content right now aside from Rublev is a potential matchup with entertaining and fan favorite Gael Monfils in the quarters.

Things look good for him as long as he can keep his mind focused on the tennis matches and avoiding suspension. Although tame by his standards, the first two matches have had their share of controversies. In his first-round match, he was getting it on with the official during the changeover when Johnson said to him “do you want to play f***ing tennis, or host a sh*t show?” After that it seemed to cool Kyrgios and the match was pretty straight forward. however, at the press conference he stated that the ATP was “corrupt” for how they treat him, but then retracted the comments the very next day, probably fearing retribution from the ATP. Then in his second-round match, he was asked to out his collar down due to a message he’d written on it, which has become sort of his motto “Just Do You.” I guess you can’t write inspiring messages to yourself on your shirt. The good news for Nick is that the ATP holds no authority over the Grand Slams, so any recommendation for a suspension doesn’t necessarily need to be followed by the US Open. That’s good news for fans! I for one want to see him play Nadal in the semis.