Thanasi Kokkinakis reveals plans to reunite with best friend Nick Kyrgios at Wimbledon – with the ‘Special Ks’ targeting the famous tournament following the bad tennis boy’s seven-month layoff
- Kokkinakis says Kyrgios is on its way to a comeback
- Duo would like to double again at Wimbledon
- Kyrgios has not played a tour match in seven months
Nick Kyrgios is on the mend and looking forward to returning to action at Wimbledon, according to his plus size and doubles partner Thanasi Kokkinakis.
The pair have also spoken about the prospect of their ‘Special Ks’ doubles team joining forces for the world’s biggest tournament, with singles finalist Kyrgios feeling ‘positive’ about returning for the grass court season after a long hiatus.
Kokkinakis, who has been a childhood friend of Australia’s most enigmatic sportsman, offered AAP an encouraging overview of the plans from Kyrgios, who has not played a tour match since the Japan Open seven months ago and underwent knee surgery after missing the Australian Open in January.
On the comeback route, he has now also bypassed the French Open, where, despite not being the biggest fan of the clay court slog, he had promised to bring his girlfriend Costeen Hatzi as she wanted to see Paris for the first time.
“I’m sure she will have a few nice trips to Paris in the future,” said Kokkinakis, who was talking to his mate about his plans on Thursday.
Thanasi Kokkinakis says his mate Nick Kyrgios is on the mend and looking forward to getting back into action at Wimbledon
The pair have also spoken about the prospect of their ‘Special Ks’ doubles team joining forces again for the world’s biggest tournament
“I think the plan for him is to be ready for Wimbledon and play a few lead-ins. Stuttgart (June 12-18) was up there, I think. I’m not sure if he’s going to Queen’s or Halle (both June 19-25), but hopefully he’ll be ready.
“By all accounts, his recovery has been a bit slower than he thought, but I think he’s on the mend now and things are looking positive for the grass.”
Not only do the pair get good results together, they also enjoy each other’s company on the track
On their partnership that resulted in last year’s Australian Open doubles title, Kokkinakis added: ‘The plan now is to play Wimbledon, health permitting of course.
‘We are going to sign up for the doubles there, we talked about that on Thursday.
“We haven’t played for a long time and I haven’t played a lot of doubles this year because it’s not such a priority for me this year, but I still want to play in some of the bigger tournaments because it’s still a fun experience with him.
“I’m playing with (big-hitting German Jan-Lennard) Struff here in Paris – so we’ll see how that goes.
“If Nick wasn’t ready for Wimbledon I would have played with him again at Wimbledon, but Nick is always on top as my favorite doubles partner.
“Nick and I get on really well, it’s more than just getting good results for us, we enjoy our time on the courts together – and it was a friendship first and that’s why we play doubles first and foremost.”