Tennis great Todd Woodbridge accuses Thanasi Kokkinakis of putting Russian money ahead of his Australian Open campaign

Todd Woodbridge has criticized Thanasi Kokkinakis for putting Russian money ahead of his Australian Open campaign, urging the injury-prone Australian tennis star to reconsider his priorities.

Kokkinakis was forced to withdraw from his hometown Adelaide International last week due to a shoulder injury, dealing another blow to his Australian Open hopes.

The 2022 champion was due to play second seed Sebastian Korda on Thursday evening for a place in the last four, but was forced to withdraw late due to a right shoulder complaint.

Although the injury is not expected to keep the 28-year-old out for too long, it is one of the many annoying problems he has suffered over the years.

Kokkinakis has experienced everything from abdominal and groin injuries to shoulder surgeries and stress fractures.

Injuries have kept him short of his potential, with the talented South Australian admitting it made him think about quitting the sport.

Aussie tennis great turned Channel Nine star Todd Woodbridge has given a blunt take on Thanasi Kokkinakis’ injury problems as he blamed him for playing in Russia

Kokkinakis has arrived at the Australian Open under an injury cloud after being forced to withdraw from the international tournament in his hometown of Adelaide

Woodbridge believes some of Kokkinakis’ obstacles are self-inflicted, including not taking a rest at the end of 2024 and taking money to play in Russia.

“Planning is very interesting to him,” Woodbridge told Wide World of Sports’ The morning service.

‘He has to think carefully about what he is going to do to get the best tennis career out of himself. At the end of the year he played against Challengers and then he went to play practice matches that he did not have to play.

“Yes, the money is great and we all like to put it in our pockets and that’s exactly what he did, but that schedule hurts to start the year.”

Woodbridge said Kokkinakis should try to come into the Australian Open in his best form, suggesting his current injury problems could have been avoided.

“He really needed to land some big work, maybe go to Brisbane, play that – he pulled out of Brisbane,” Woodbridge said.

“He always plays well in Adelaide, that’s the hometown, he loves it there, but the problem is if you go so hard so early you get exhausted here.”

Woodbridge suggested Kokkinakis could take a leaf out of Alex de Minaur’s book.

Woodbridge advised Kokkinakis to make his home grand slam his biggest priority

“That’s something Alex de Minaur has done a number of times over the last five years,” he said.

“He’s learned to change that schedule. Now he’s had the week before and that’s allowed him to dive deep into all the majors over the last twelve months, right? That’s something Thanasi needs to think about.

‘I hope what happened in Adelaide has given him enough time to get started here because he comes in with confidence and good form… but you have to think about it for next year or else the time up. .’