Thanasi Kokkinakis makes hilarious admission at Australian Open 2024 after fan-favourite was involved in ANOTHER dramatic clash
- Thanasi Kokkinakis said he has the attention span of a three-year-old
- Kokkinakis played a five-set thriller on Tuesday
- He has suffered painful losses in Melbourne in the past
Thanasi Kokkinakis poked fun at himself after the fan favorite was involved in another dramatic Australian Open match.
Kokkinakis is no stranger to five-set thrillers, having suffered agonizing losses to Stefanos Tsitsipas and Andy Murray at Melbourne Park in 2021 and 2022 respectively.
But he was determined not to suffer three embarrassing defeats at his home grand slam, beating Sebastian Ofner in five sets to reach the second round of this year’s tournament.
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.
“Mate, I wish I could do it easier, but I can’t,” he admitted
Thanasi Kokkinakis could laugh at himself after his victory at the Australian Open
Kokkinakis admitted that after his win he has the attention span of a three-year-old
‘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 fought through an exciting tiebreak to reach the second round for the fifth time.
The Australian has suffered painful five-set defeats at his home tournament
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.”