Thanasi Kokkinakis

[Lucas]

Obszerny artykuł/wywiad o/z Thanasim.
http://www.foxsports.com.au/tennis/than ... 7304449281

[bogdan1978]

27.04.2015

Najwyższy ranking w karierze: 103

[Lucas]

Jest MD w Madrycie!

Spoiler:

Thanasi Kokkinakis
Training on the dirt in Madrid

facebook.com

[Mario]

Bardzo prawdopodobne, że Thanasi wystąpi w kwalifikacjach CH w Bordeaux, powodem są kłopoty w dotarciu do Rzymu. Więcej tutaj - http://www.menstennisforums.com/showthread.php?t=629074

[Lucas]

Thanasi's Travel Woes: McDonald's Sleepover


Thanasi Kokkinakis and Todd Langman made the most of their night at the Madrid airport.

Spoiler:

Flying around the world for tournaments, tennis players often deal with issues related to travel.

"I have lost things like my wallet, but this has been most inconvenient," Thanasi Kokkinakis told ATPWorldTour.com on Thursday.

The Aussie was attempting to fly from Madrid to Rome for the upcoming Internazionali Bnl D'Italia, which begins 10 May, when an unexpected fire at Rome's Fiumicino Airport caused a multitude of flight cancellations and delays.

"When we got to the airport, they told us to come back 10 hours later for the later flight at 7:30, then when we got here they told us it was cancelled," said Kokkinakis. "[They] said there is no guarantee we can get you on a flight to Rome in the next two to three days, so we have to play a tournament in France."

Forced to spend the night at the airport, the Aussie tweeted: "Spending the night in a 24hrs McDonald's Madrid airport. The hustle is real #RomeNoBueno."

Kokkinakis advanced through qualifying in Madrid before losing in the first round (l. to Querrey). He was hoping to qualify for his second straight ATP World Tour Masters 1000 in Rome before travel troubles forced him to enter qualifying at an ATP World Tour Challenger event instead.

"I would be there too late, [so I'm] going to Bordeaux and I'm going to have to play qualies now," he said.

Kokkinakis' compatriot, James Duckworth, was also suffering from travel troubles.

"I have been stuck waiting at [London] Gatwick airport all day," he said. "I have had three flights cancelled on me, and I haven't been able to get on a flight with any other airlines. I am pulling out of Rome and going to play qualies in Bordeaux. I'm pretty shattered as I really like playing in Italy and I had been working hard to have a crack at my first Masters 1000 on clay."

Despite the unexpected issues, young gun Kokkinakis seemed to make the most of his extra time at the Madrid airport, and had a little fun too!

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis ... ubles.aspx

[DUN I LOVE]

Witamy w Top-100.

[Lucas]

Kokkinakis Makes It A Top 100 Teen Trio

Spoiler:

The young guns continue to stake their claim on the ATP World Tour, with 19-year-old Thanasi Kokkinakis the latest to break into the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings.

After qualifying into the main draw at the Mutua Madrid Open (l. to Querrey R1), the Adelaide native rose five places to a career-high World No. 98. He joins No. 69 Hyeon Chung and No. 53 Borna Coric, both 18 years old, as the only teenagers in the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings.

Kokkinakis should have been playing qualifying for the Internazionali BNL d’Italia this past weekend, but travel woes getting to Rome put paid to that plan. Instead, he is competing at an ATP Challenger Tour event in Bordeaux.

After winning his third ATP Challenger Tour title of the season last week on home soil in Busan, South Korea, Chung surged up 19 spots to a career-high World No. 69. Meanwhile, Coric has been a semi-finalist in Dubai this year and recently reached the Estoril quarter-finals to take him to the verge of the Top 50 – a goal he set himself at the start of the season.

Read Stars Of Tomorrow: Kokkinakis | Chung | Coric

The last time there were three or more teens in the Top 100 was 15 September 2008, with Juan Martin Del Potro (19 years, 11 months) ranked No. 13, Marin Cilic (19 years, 11 months) ranked No. 22, and Kei Nishikori (18 years, 8 months) ranked No. 84. Two of those three have gone on to win Grand Slam championships, while Nishikori finished runner-up to Cilic in the 2014 US Open final.

The teens aren’t the only ATP youngsters on the rise. Following his quarter-final run at the Mutua Madrid Open, 24-year-old Milos Raonic broke into the Top 4 of the Emirates ATP Rankings. Nick Kyrgios, 20, who stunned Roger Federer in the Madrid second round last week, cracked the Top 30. Meanwhile, Houston champion Jack Sock, 22, closed in on a Top 30 spot, rising to a career-high No. 33, having gone 11-3 in his first four tournaments on his comeback from pelvis surgery this season.

The next teenager looking to break into the Top 100 is Alexander Zverev, who rose five places to World No. 105 this week. The 18-year-old German, who recently contested his first ATP World Tour doubles final with older brother Mischa Zverev in Munich (l. to Peya/Soares), is playing at the Heilbronn Challenger this week.

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis ... -Rise.aspx

[Lucas]

Najwyższy ranking w karierze (11.05.2015):
98

[robpal]

CH Bordeaux: Thanasi po raz 1. na zapleczu ATP.


Thanasi Kokkinakis won his maiden Challenger title Sunday in Bordeaux.

BNP Paribas Primrose Bordeaux (Bordeaux, France): Last week, Thanasi Kokkinakis made it a teen trio in the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings and this week the 19-year-old Aussie won his first ATP Challenger Tour title at the prestigious BNP Paribas Primrose Bordeaux. Kokkinakis, who needed five match points to defeat Thiemo de Bakker 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(5), is the fifth teenage Challenger champion this year, the ninth first-time titlist and the second qualifier to prevail.

The Australian almost never competed in Bordeaux, and had it not been for a fire at Rome's Fiumicino Airport that altered his plans he would have contested qualifying at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in the Italian capital. Read more about Kokkinakis' travel troubles.

Kokkinakis: "It feels great to win my first title, especially after the circumstances with Rome. It's great to get the win in Bordeaux because it is such a nice Challenger with many top players and many great past champions. I knew I had to make at least the quarters to make the cut for Wimbledon too, so I'm happy."

On failing to convert his first four match points: "I didn't really play bad points, he was too good on most of them, so I tried to keep a level head and stay focused and I played a great tie-break."

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis ... -2015.aspx

[bogdan1978]

18.05.2015

Najwyższy ranking w karierze: 83

[Lucas]

Kokkinakis Saves Three M.P. In Tomic Upset

Spoiler:

World No. 84 Thanasi Kokkinakis once again showed why he has been billed as a rising star on the ATP World Tour as he clawed his way back from a two-set deficit and saved three match points to defeat fellow Australian Bernard Tomic on Thursday at Roland Garros.

With the 3-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 8-6 victory, 19-year-old Kokkinakis becomes the first teenager to reach the third round at Roland Garros since Ernests Gulbis (19) reached the quarter-finals in 2008.

After regaining the momentum heading into the decisive set, Kokkinakis found himself down a break and 2-5. He saved three match points while serving at 3-5, eventually closing out the contest in three hours and 17 minutes.

The 6’5” Adelaide native served up 19 aces for a total of 71 winners and won 11 of 13 points at the net. Despite taking advantage of just five of his 22 break opportunities, Kokkinakis was able to notch his first win over 22-year-old Tomic, having lost to him in Brisbane and Indian Wells this year.

He’ll likely face another difficult test in the third round where he will meet the winner of World No. 1 Novak Djokovic and Gilles Muller.

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis ... Tomic.aspx

[DUN I LOVE]

Roland Garros 2015: Thanasi realizuje "plan Mario".

19-latek z przedmieść Adelajdy po raz pierwszy w karierze awansował do 3. rundy turnieju wielkoszlemowego. Kokkinakis dokonał tej sztuki po dramatycznym 5-setowym meczu przeciwko swojemu rodakowi, Bernardowi Tomicowi.

[WC] Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) d. [27] Bernard Tomic (AUS) 3-6 3-6 6-3 6-4 8-6

Thanasi w poniedziałek po finale RG prawdopodobnie zajmie miejsce w Top-70. Na początku roku nasz moderator postawił mu za cel Top-100 do Wimbla, Top-70 do końca roku. Szkoda, że nie poszedł śladami Chunga nie zarzynał się w CH.

[Rroggerr]

Thanasi w poniedziałek po finale RG prawdopodobnie zajmie miejsce w Top-70. Na początku roku nasz moderator postawił mu za cel Top-100 do Wimbla, Top-70 do końca roku. Szkoda, że nie poszedł śladami Chunga nie zarzynał się w CH.

Gdyby zamiast grać w Bordeaux, pojechałby do Rzymu i odpadł w pierwszej rundzie z jakimś Querreyem, to byłby w rankingu mniej więcej tam gdzie Zverev, więc raczej nie śmiałbym się z opinii Mario czy moich.

Myślę, że losowania mu pomogły, dlatego wygląda to tak dobrze, GGL-Monaco na czwartą rundę IW czy Tomic na clayu na trzecią rundę RG to na papierze były spokojnie do wygrania mecze, tak jak zresztą tegoroczny Gulbis w Melbourne, czy czołkujący Rosol. Zważywszy na tendencję wzrostową, top40 realne, bo w race jest 49, a teraz trawa i hard...

[DUN I LOVE]

Może dzięki takim, a nie innym wyborom cały czas jest konkurencyjny w WS. Odpadał wcześnie, a paliwa za bardzo nie ubywało. Oczywiście, fajnie, że to Bordeaux się trafiło,uważam, że permanentne trenowanie i granie z najlepszymi uczyniło z niego zawodnika takiego formatu, jakim jest dziś. Chung ma niby podobny ranking, ale 3. runda WS to cały czas odległa sprawa.

[Rroggerr]

Ale my nie pisaliśmy, że ma Thanasi się przenieść zupełnie do challengerów, tyle, że spoko byłoby przeplatać te występy na tym etapie sezonu (czyli wtedy kiedy był na przełomie drugiej i pierwszej setki), bo raz, że można szybko zbudować ranking, co akurat jemu może bardzo pomóc, dwa, że na clayu ciężej mu będzie o niespodziankę, a trzy, że wygranie w Bordeaux jest lepsze, niż przegranie z Querreyem w Madrycie czy Lajoviciem w Stambule w pierwszej rundzie. Więc nie rozumiem uwagi, bo przecież brak występu w Rzymie mocno mu wyszedł mu na dobre, a chyba nikt go nie krytykował, że docelowo skupia się na większych turniejach.

To, że Thanasi jest szykowany do większych rzeczy, to oczywistość, ja myślę, że bez względu na to jak byłby prowadzony Kokk, to byłby mniej więcej w tym właśnie miejscu, bo po prostu ma potencjał na regularny pobyt w top10 w pewnym momencie, a jak dopisze głowa, to MOŻE coś więcej, a od kogoś takiego można chyba oczekiwać w wieku 19 lat pobytu w top50.

Przez Dimitrowów nam się zmienił punkt widzenia, ale Berdych w wieku 19 lat zgarniał Palermo, a rok później Bercy, nie ma co też przesadzać ze słodzeniem, to tylko Tomić na clayu. Jak zgarnie seta jutro, to już będzie coś.

[Lucas]

Thanasi wins Australian battle

Spoiler:

When Thanasi Kokkinakis was two sets down to Bernard Tomic in the second-round battle of the Aussie young guns, perhaps he remembered the words he spoke in anticipation of this match: "I feel like I'm playing good enough tennis to knock him (Tomic) off." Whatever was in the mind of the 19-year-old, it was not defeat. In front of a riveted crowd on Court 7, the player nicknamed "the Kokk" surged back, recovering from a bad fall at the end of the fourth set before climbing out of another slump in the decider to save three match points and romp to victory 3-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 8-6 in three hours and 24 minutes.

It made him the first teenager to reach the third round at Roland-Garros since Ernests Gulbis in 2008. Not so much "the Kokk" as "le Coq", perhaps. His reward is a last 32 encounter with the No.1 seed Novak Djokovic.

You never would have thought it possible from the first two sets. Kokkinakis, ranked 84, couldn't find his rhythm, and his body language did nothing to disguise his frustration. These two giants - both men are 6ft5in (1.96m) tall - are familiar opponents with two jousts already this year. Tomic took their Brisbane encounter without drama, but their Indian Wells meeting was far more complex, surrendered by Kokkinakis in the third. The memory of that match was what the youngster most wanted to obliterate in this encounter.

It still sounds a little strange to refer to any opponent of Tomic as "the youngster", as if the No.27 seed were himself a wizened veteran. It is true that he has one of those faces which carries more experience than suggested by his 22 years; but as recently as last July his tournament win in Bogota would make him the youngest title winner of 2014. Tennis life has not run smooth for him since he broke into the top 50 as an 18-year-old in October 2011, but until today 2014 had been a good year for him, seeing his ranking rise from 56 to its current career high of 26. Yet he had never been beyond the second round at Roland-Garros in five previous attempts, and so it would prove again. He may not sleep well tonight for thinking about the three match points which slipped from his grasp at 5-2 in the fifth.

"I was going mental in the first two sets when I couldn't take a break point," said Kokkinakis afterwards, as he nursed a very sore hip from that fall in the fourth set. "I don't know what my conversion rate was, but it was driving me insane. Every time I didn't take a break point it was like someone shot an arrow to me. I can't even explain how berserk I was going. At one point I said, 'Get me off the court'. Luckily I didn't. I was trying to tell myself when I was two sets to love down that I had a lot of chances in those two sets. Just keep pushing. I trust my game in the big moments when I need it. I kept hanging in there. I felt like I was in better physical shape than he is. I trusted my fitness and it paid off."

Read more at http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/news/ ... 71ckI2i.99

http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/news/ ... tomic.html

[DUN I LOVE]

Przez Dimitrowów nam się zmienił punkt widzenia, ale Berdych w wieku 19 lat zgarniał Palermo, a rok później Bercy, nie ma co też przesadzać ze słodzeniem, to tylko Tomić na clayu. Jak zgarnie seta jutro, to już będzie coś.

Seta nie zgarnął, ale pozostawił po sobie bardzo dobre wrażenie.

[bogdan1978]

08.06.2015

Najwyższa pozycja w karierze: 69

[Lucas]

Thanasi's Mad Dash Pays Off

Spoiler:

It was quite the feat that Thanasi Kokkinakis even stepped out onto court at The Queen’s Club yesterday, never mind the fact that he beat World No. 37 Jeremy Chardy to make his debut at the Aegon Championships.
After a couple of weeks of taking the local bus down to the LTA National Training Centre at Roehampton in south-west London to hone his grass-court game, Kokkinakis had been due to play qualifying for the Aegon Championships in its first year as an ATP World Tour 500 tournament.
But the 19 year old’s plans changed abruptly as he made the decision to withdraw from qualifying to fly home to Adelaide on Friday to be with his ill Grandma.
On Saturday, though, Kokkinakis got the call that Kyle Edmund had been forced to relinquish his main draw wild card due to a lingering injury and as such, Kokkinakis was awarded a main draw place. So it was that after just 30 hours at home, the teenager boarded another 24-hour flight back to London along with his agent, Rick Montz.
“Big thanks to Stephen and the guys for giving me that wild card,” Kokkinakis said after his first-round win on Tuesday. “I watched this tournament all the time growing up, so it's good to be a part of it.
“I got back Monday at midday, did something like 48 hours [flying] in three days. I felt like I was travelling a lot more than I was home, which is weird. Spent 30 hours home and back off. I was a little bit tired, but as soon as I got here I had kind of a hit last night to get the cobwebs out a little bit. Slept long enough. I was ready to go today.
“I'm definitely happy with the decision I made,” continued the 6’5" right-hander, who notched his 10th win of the season. “It was definitely good to go home and see family. Good that I could kind of play the match and try and put it to the side [today].”
Kokkinakis is on court twice on Wednesday. His singles bid came to an end when he lost to Gilles Simon in the second round, but, as he wrote on Twitter, he will try to “redeem” himself later in the doubles alongside Lleyton Hewitt. It was an opportunity he could not pass up as the former World No. 1 prepares to take his bow at The Queen’s Club.
“It's going to be a good experience,” said Kokkinakis. “Usually at Davis Cup I'm always with the younger guy playing against, because he's always in the doubles, so I'm always playing against him and someone else. I have never actually played a point with him on the same side. It's going to be interesting tomorrow.
“Obviously he's done so many great things for tennis and tennis in Australia as well. It's going to be huge for me to go out there and play with him in his last Queen's and last Wimbledon I will play with him as well. I'm just going to enjoy it.”

http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/news/lon ... is-feature

[Lucas]

Wimbledon 2015: Thanasi Kokkinakis speaks to the media following his 1-st round 7‑6(7), 7‑6(3), 6‑4 defeat by Leonardo Mayer.

Spoiler:

What do you make of your performance today?

THANASI KOKKINAKIS: Yeah, it was disappointing. Didn't find the energy I wanted. As far as being intense, I just didn't play with any confidence out there.

Managed to get it to two tiebreakers, had a good chance in the first set.

Yeah, I had a good chance to break early in the second, as well. Didn't take it. Got up a break in the third and got broken straight back.

It just wasn't feeling great out there as far as my game.

Q. Obviously you had a little bit of an illness coming into this week?

THANASI KOKKINAKIS: Yeah, definitely I think I'd be lying if I said my preparation was ideal. Last two weeks after French I actually had a really good week training on the grass, and then couple of things happened. As soon as I came back home and started to train well again, I got sick, I don't know what it was.

Still finding out what antibiotics I'm about to take now. The results should be now which is helpful now that I'm out. That's good.

Yeah, I just didn't play great today.

Q. It was pretty warm today, as well.

THANASI KOKKINAKIS: I wasn't really feeling too fatigued physically. It was more mentally. I couldn't just get up as much as I wanted.

Q. Are you still okay to play doubles with Lleyton?

THANASI KOKKINAKIS: I will be all right.

Q. How seriously are you taking that? Do you think you will get deep in the draw?

THANASI KOKKINAKIS: I will treat it seriously as I can. I was pretty pissed off when I walked off the court.

Yeah, I think because it's Wimbledon and Lleyton's last, I will definitely be into it and give it a good crack.

Q. How important are the doubles in terms of Davis Cup?

THANASI KOKKINAKIS: Yeah, I think it's going to be important. Obviously we haven't had a set team, doubles team association we're always looking to see who is going to play well with who. Hopefully we can do all right here. I think we have 15 seeds. Hopefully get up in the singles and see how it goes.

Q. Is that part of the plan? Have you spoken with Lleyton or he spoken to you about potentially playing doubles in the Davis Cup quarterfinals?

THANASI KOKKINAKIS: We will just see how we go here and hopefully we could all right.

Q. You said you're a bit pissed off after the game. You had a couple of smashes, second set. Was it tough to handle your emotions today, as well?

THANASI KOKKINAKIS: Yeah, it's just disappointing, big tournament, and you're trying to play as well as you can, but you're not quite with it. That's one of the frustrating things.

Again, I had little chances and it was a pretty tight three‑set match, even though I felt like I didn't play great.

It was just my frustration getting over to me.

Q. Did you notice the ball boy go down, right before the first set tiebreak?

THANASI KOKKINAKIS: They must have been eating what I had, couple went off the court feeling pretty ill.

Q. Did you get sick at all during the week?

THANASI KOKKINAKIS: During the week?

Q. Another illness? Was it more to it?

THANASI KOKKINAKIS: No, actually was the first day I wasn't feeling as bad as I had the other days, which is good.

There was a couple long rallies where I threw up a little bit in my mouth. But apart from that, I was okay.

Q. What do you remember from Lleyton's Wimbledon win? You were six.

THANASI KOKKINAKIS: Not a lot. Just that he had a shaved head and he beat Nalbandian in the final. That's it pretty much.

Q. What did that achievement mean to you as you got older?

THANASI KOKKINAKIS: Well, it didn't mean a lot to me just then because I wasn't even playing tennis.

But, yeah, as I went on and you grew up watching more and more tournaments, you realize how big of an achievement that was and how much he's done with for the sport in Australia.

Q. Do you think his role has been an important part of this generation of Australian players that you have now? I know you were young when he won that, but beyond that?

THANASI KOKKINAKIS: Yeah, I think so. Especially Davis Cup, as I said, he's great to have around. He really sets the tone as far as work ethic and training goes. He really leads by example.

Q. Do you give him a shot if he plays Novak?

THANASI KOKKINAKIS: You can never write him off because of what he's done. Hopefully he gets through today. It's going to be a tough task, no doubt.

He's a battler, we will see how it goes.

http://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/news/art ... round.html