Nick Kyrgios gives two-word celebration after seeing mate Thanasi Kokkinakis banish Australian Open demons and win five-set thriller
- Thanasi Kokkinakis has banished last year’s demons
- He suffered an embarrassing loss to Andy Murray
- But on Tuesday he won a five-set thriller in the first round
Thanasi Kokkinakis has gone some way to overcoming last year’s heartbreaking Australian Open defeat to Andy Murray by claiming a signature five-set win in his Melbourne Park opener.
And no one was happier for the Australian than his close friend, Nick Kyrgios.
“F*** yes,” he tweeted on Tuesday.
A year later, after his 4am departure from a marathon with five-time runner-up Murray, Kokkinakis outlasted Austrian Sebastian Ofner 7-6 (7-1) 2-6 6-7 (4-7) 6-1 7- 6 (10-8) in front of a loud Kia Arena crowd.
In doing so, the 27-year-old played out a tantalizing clash with 13th seed Grigor Dimitrov, who defeated Marton Fucsovics earlier on Tuesday.
The grueling five-setter of four hours and eighteen minutes, coming back from a two-sets-to-one deficit, brought out the best in the Australian.
Thanasi Kokkinakis exorcised the demons of his defeat at the Australian Open last year
His close friend Nick Kyrgios shared his joy after his five-set win
“Mate, I wish I could do it easier, but I can’t,” he said.
‘I have the mental focus of a three-year-old.
“No matter how I manage it, you (the audience) are amazing. Without you there is no chance of me winning.”
Kokkinakis blew past Murray in the second round last year in the space of five hours and 45 minutes – the second-longest match in Open history.
When asked what was going on in his head during the Ofner match, he said: ‘You don’t want to know.
‘Fighting some serious demons, that’s for sure.
“I had a tough end to last year, a tough start to this year and I know it’s the first round, but this one meant a lot.
‘Last year it obviously hurt. Some junkies came up to me at Crown Casino and grilled me for that loss to Murray.
‘I didn’t like that very much, but I’m happy that I could make up for it and win a five-setter here.’
Kokkinakis defeated Austrian Sebastian Ofner during their match in Melbourne
He set the Australian Open on fire with Kyrgios during their 2022 doubles triumph
Kokkinakis fought through an exciting tiebreak to reach the second round for the fifth time.
The South Australian scored two match points and while Ofner managed to save the first on serve, he hit the second on Kokkinakis’ serve into the net.
Kokkinakis will attempt to reach the third round for the first time when he faces No. 13 seed Dimitrov.
“Grigor is a great player, he has been doing this for a while and he is in great form at the moment,” said Kokkinakis.
“But yeah, I back myself… I’ve beaten high-ranked players before, I’ve lost to lower-ranked players. It’s a number.
“It’s about coming out on that day and playing my best tennis, hopefully I can do that.”