It’s as if Kevin Anderson was never away. The sixth seed returned to the fourth round of the Miami Open presented by Itau on Monday, beating Portugal’s Joao Sousa 6-4, 7-6(6).

Anderson is playing in only his second tournament of the season, after losing in the second round of the Australian Open to #NextGenATP American Frances Tiafoe. The South African withdrew from four events, including the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells earlier this month, because of a persistent right elbow injury.

But he has felt healthy in South Florida, and his play has reflected his condition. Anderson hit 13 aces against Sousa and was efficient all match with his serve.

The 2017 Miami quarter-finalist (l. to Carreno Busta) won almost 75 per cent of his service points and saved the only break point he faced. Anderson improved to 1-1 against Sousa in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series.

Portugal’s No. 1 was trying to beat a Top 10 player for the second year in a row in Miami (Goffin) and gain his fifth win against the elite group (4-30).

Anderson will next meet Aussie Jordan Thompson, who upset 24^th seed Grigor Dimitrov 7-5, 7-5 to make the fourth round of an ATP Masters 1000 event for the first time.

Read More: Thompson Is On A Tear

The two traded breaks in both sets, but Thompson came through under pressure, breaking Dimitrov in the 12^th game of both sets. The 24-year-old Sydney native had never reached the third round of a Masters 1000 event before Miami. He is 0-1 against Anderson in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series.

Dimitrov also was playing in only his second tournament of the season because of a right shoulder problem.

On Monday, Miami Open presented by Itau Tournament Director James Blake exclusively spoke to ATPTour.com about the event’s new venue, Hard Rock Stadium, the most interesting feedback he’s gotten, David Ferrer and Felix Auger-Aliassime.

What’s been the best part of the venue change for you thus far?
For me it’s the optimism. The fact that any time a player or a fan or anyone asks for something, that we usually have the ability to take care of it. We’re coming up with solutions to the minor problems that are coming up. But I just love the fact that we’re going to be able to keep growing this event, and we’re going to be better and better and every year the players are going to come back to some sort of improvement. I’m just really loving the optimism.

A lot of the players had emotional ties to the old venue at Crandon Park because they’ve played there as juniors and pros. What has the process been like helping bring them on board here?
I really understood the skepticism last year, when you hear there’s going to be a stadium court inside a 60,000-seat stadium and there are going to be 29 other courts in a parking lot. It doesn’t sound appealing to a lot of players. But then when they’ve seen it, they’ve come around and they see how well it was done, how world-class the courts are.

Some of the players don’t take the time to go out to the village and see what’s out there for the fans, but hopefully they can at least appreciate that there are so many fans. We’re breaking records nearly every session, so they’ve got more fans to watch them play and I think they’re enjoying and appreciating that as well.

What’s been the biggest compliment you’ve gotten from the players?
I’d say from a player just hearing the fact that they love it. They’re excited to be here. So far the most animated they’ve gotten is with the coffee. They’ve got good coffee here. They didn’t like it at first, we fixed it right away, and we got some good coffee. I’m not a coffee drinker so I don’t have the same passion, but the passion of coffee drinkers is pretty strong.

Arthur Ashe Stadium is one thing with more than 23,000 seats, but your main court is inside a football stadium. How special has that been?
I think it gives us unique opportunities because we’ve got the 9s, which is nine unbelievable suites. We’ve got The 72 Club, which is another suite up a little higher and we’ve got the luxury seats down by the court. People are sitting in recliners. I actually went out yesterday and watched about half of a match sitting in those recliners in the front row. Even the US Open that’s got 23,000 seats and it’s beautiful, it’s amazing, it’s state of the art, it doesn’t have that kind of luxury the way that we have here.

So we’ve got a pretty unique selling point to a lot of fans. I spoke to a fan just the other day saying we were in Indian Wells, we came here as well and we just got talked into this upgrade and we’re doing it again next year because this suite is unbelievable, we’ve never experienced anything like this in tennis. To have that kind of compliment and to have that kind of ability makes me really excited about what the fans can experience here because it’s really unique.

What’s been your favourite tennis moment of the event?
I’d say Ferrer coming through against Sascha Zverev. I love Sascha Zverev, he’s going to have a ton of great experiences in tennis, a ton of great moments, but Ferrer, this is one of his last events. He’s got only two more events after this. We gave him the wild card because he’s done so much for the sport of tennis, been a finalist here before. The fans really love him and deservedly so. He’s the kind of guy who comes to work every day giving his absolute 100 per cent and he showed that, worked extremely hard to beat Sascha Zverev on a hard-fought night match.

So to have him win a couple matches in his swan song, it’s pretty fun for me to see. It’s a lot of fun when someone’s already reached that point in their career that they know they’re done, but they’ve still got a little bit left in the tank.

Did that night bring back any memories to your three matches against him and sort of give you flashbacks?
I remember playing him and how difficult it was and so I sensed some of Sascha Zverev’s frustrations when he was playing him. It did bring back some memories of some of my matches with him and just watching him play a lot as well, I think a lot of players respect and admire how much he’s gotten out of his game. At 5’9” against a Tour that has become increasingly tall and big and strong, he’s accounted for that with heart, with intangibles and with consistency and a great mindset for the game.

It’s something that’s really impressive because as they always say you can’t teach 6’6”, you can’t teach someone genetics. But his heart, that’s something he’s sort of been born with, but it takes a ton of work every single day to be committed to putting in the effort that he’s putting in. I like seeing that and I love the way his career has gone and the way he’s retiring now, he’s going to be a legend in our sport for a very long time.

While David is closing out his career, Felix Auger-Aliassime is just getting started, and he’s into the Round of 16 at an ATP Masters 1000 event for the first time. What’s it been like to see him break through at your event?
It’s a lot of fun. Felix is someone who played qualies as a wild card last year, played qualies this year. He would’ve gotten into the main draw if it had just been a couple weeks later. To come through qualies, it very easily could be the last qualies he plays in his career because he’s that good that he should never really be dropping back down into qualies. He’s got such amazing talent and it’s fun to see because he’s got a really good head on his shoulders for a guy who’s only 18 years old. He’s far beyond where I was at 18 physically and emotionally, so I think I’ve got a lot of respect for the way he’s gone about his young career already, putting his health first, doing a lot of things the right way, taking steps in the process rather than trying to make huge leaps and bounds right away.

When you take those steps, it’s amazing how quickly those bounds come. You start having success quicker and quicker and it becomes almost easier than expected. Now people are starting to expect big things out of him and we’ll see because the next step is living up to those expectations and figuring out how to deal with those mentally and emotionally and the fact that there are so many people who are going to be on him, whether it be media, sponsors, critics, everything’s going to be around him and he’s got to be able to distance himself from that and focus on the tennis.

A LOOK BACK
Play In Challenger Lille (Lille, France): It has been home cooking for Gregoire Barrere in the two editions of the ATP Challenger Tour event in Lille. The Frenchman once again took advantage of the home support at the Tennis Club Lillois Lille Metropole, successfully defending his title on Sunday.

Barrere overcame Yannick Maden to secure the trophy, prevailing 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 in one hour and 46 minutes. Last year, the 25-year-old took the title in the tournament’s inaugural edition. And on Sunday he secured his third Challenger crown, completing an impressive week on home soil. At No. 120 in the ATP Rankings, he continues his push towards a Top 100 debut.

In 2018, only two players retained Challenger crowns. We have already arrived at that total this year, with Barrere joining Newport Beach champion Taylor Fritz with successful title defenses.

Maden, meanwhile, remains in search of his maiden title. On the cusp of a Top 100 breakthrough of his own, the 108th-ranked Stuttgart native is also closing in on his first trophy. He was appearing in his sixth final.

Zhangjiagang International Challenger (Zhangjiagang, China): Marc Polmans entered the three-week Chinese swing on a 4-11 run, having failed to string together multiple wins since October. But the Aussie has flipped the script in a flash, following a quarter-final run in Shenzhen with a title in Zhangjiagang.

Polmans fended off Lorenzo Giustino 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(4) in three hours and 12 minutes to claim his second ATP Challenger Tour title. It is the longest final thus far in 2019. After dropping the second set, the 21-year-old saved three break points midway through the decider and rallied from a 2/4 deficit in the ensuing tie-break. He would reel off the final five points, including a sublime backhand winner and a perfect volley on match point.

Polmans notched his second Challenger title and first since February 2018, when he triumphed on home soil in Launceston.

Your champion in Zhangjiagang… @marcpolmans!!

What a way to finish… Back-to-back winners clinches a second #ATPChallenger title for the ?? pic.twitter.com/Puv9m5iSlV

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) March 24, 2019

A LOOK AHEAD
Two European tournaments highlight the final week of March, with an indoor hard court event in Saint-Brieuc, France, and a clay-court stop in Marbella, Spain. It is the first of seven straight weeks with clay-court Challengers in Europe, leading to Roland Garros qualifying.

Top seed Ricardas Berankis is the reigning champion in Saint-Brieuc and is joined by Lille finalists Maden and Barrere as the second and third seeds. It will be the 16th edition of the tournament.

Meanwhile, the second edition of the Casino Admiral Trophy is held in scenic Marbella, on the southern coast of Spain. Benoit Paire heads the field, with Pablo Andujar and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez leading the Spanish charge. #NextGenATP stars Rudolf Molleker and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina are seeded.

Nick Kyrgios pulled out all the tricks in his bag on Sunday at the Miami Open presented by Itau. The Aussie was entertaining and efficient in securing a 6-3, 6-1 win over Dusan Lajovic under the lights on Stadium court.

Kyrgios gave the Miami faithful their money’s worth, producing underarm serves, no-look volleys, scorching forehands and a rolling, spirited conversation with a fan, who was ultimately ejected for his part in the first-set exchange. He ousted Lajovic in just 57 minutes, firing 25 winners, including seven off his forehand wing. 

Exactly one year after the Aussie and the Serbian first met on the ATP Tour, Kyrgios replicated his straight-set victory from the 2018 first round. He now leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head 2-0.

“I don’t know what tomorrow is going to bring on the tennis court, but I’m going out there and having fun,” said Kyrgios. “I served well and returned well and I’m really happy. Today it was a pretty good all-around performance.”

Kyrgios looked to be on the ropes as proceedings got underway on Sunday night, with Lajovic earning three break points in the first game. But the Canberra native was clutch in the big moments, denying all three with aces. 

Three games later, Kyrgios had a break of his own, taking an early lead and consolidating for 4-1 with an underarm serve – an ace and his first of two successful underarm serves in the match. The magic would continue in the next game, as he punched a no-look volley into the open court.

Kyrgios would streak to 6-3 and refused to look back, breaking twice in the second set before securing the victory on his first match point. He dominated points under five shots throughout the affair, to the tune of 48-23.

Miami has become a happy hunting ground for the World No. 33, who advances to the fourth round for a fourth straight year. A semi-finalist in both 2016 and 2017, he also reached the Round of 16 last year, before falling to Alexander Zverev.

The recent champion at the ATP 500 event in Acapulco, Kyrgios is in the midst of a 7-1 run and will be pushing for a Top 30 return in the ATP Rankings. Coming up next is a blockbuster Tuesday date with Borna Coric. 

“Borna is an unbelievable competitor and one of the best players in the world,” Kyrgios added. “He knows how to win matches and is an unbelievable athlete. He moves incredibly well and I know he won’t give me a single point. I’m not going to think about it right now though. I have a day off tomorrow.”

Coric completed the last match of the day on Sunday, rallying past Jeremy Chardy 6-7(2), 6-2, 6-3 in two hours and 36 minutes. 

Wesley Koolhof and Stefanos Tsitsipas produced the upset of the doubles tournament at the Miami Open presented by Itau. The Dutch-Greek tandem stunned second seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares 6-3, 4-6, 10-7 on Sunday afternoon on Court 6.

Competing in their second tournament together, they had dropped a tight opener to top seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo in Indian Wells. But Koolhof and Tsitsipas found their chemistry in a flash in Miami, following a straight-set win over Karen Khachanov and Daniil Medvedev with the dismissal of the second seeds.

Koolhof and Tsitsipas will next face John Isner and Sam Querrey in the quarter-finals, after the Americans rallied past Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury 5-7, 7-6(2), 10-7. The duo has reached three ATP Masters 1000 finals together and clinched the title in Rome in 2011.

Elsewhere, Maximo Gonzalez and Horacio Zeballos stunned 2014 finalists Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah 6-4, 3-6, 10-7 to reach the quarter-finals. Zeballos has been a force on the doubles court this month, having lifted the BNP Paribas Open trophy with Nikola Mektic a week ago. He and countryman Gonzalez recently took the title in Buenos Aires after finishing runner-up in Cordoba.

In other action, Ivan Dodig and Edouard Roger-Vasselin set a meeting with Matwe Middelkoop and Diego Schwartzman, after the Croatian-French team defeated Marc Lopez and Feliciano Lopez 6-4, 6-3. Middelkoop and Schwartzman also progressed on Sunday, needing 65 minutes to dismiss sixth seeds Raven Klaasen and Michael Venus 6-4, 6-3.

Arguably the most efficient victory of the day was provided by Rohan Bopanna and Denis Shapovalov, who routed Marcel Granollers and Nikola Mektic 6-1, 6-2 in just 52 minutes. They could potentially face the five-time champions and third seeds Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan in the quarter-finals.