Spoiler:
Adelaide champ buoyed by support heading into the Australian Open
The texts came in bunches, a torrent of congratulatory notes that began popping up on Thanasi Kokkinakis’ phone the moment he closed out Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech 6-7(6), 7-6(5), 6-3 on Saturday at the Adelaide International 2. Everyone knew what it meant for him to claim his first tour-level title after years of injuries and disappointments.
“It has surprised me a little bit,” said Kokkinakis, whose emotional and long-awaited breakthrough fittingly came in front of friends and family on home turf. “I felt some serious love from a lot of people. It actually means a lot. I don’t know if I’ve walked past one person that hasn’t stopped me and congratulated me.
“It’s an unbelievable feeling, to be honest, something I haven’t experienced in a long time, maybe ever. Hopefully, now it’s a sign that I can keep going. Gives me a lot more motivation as well. I don’t want to stop here.”
Perhaps none of those messages meant more than the two that came from Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
“It’s awesome having that support, two guys that have done so much, to reach out to me,” he said. “They’ve won about a million of them, so it was probably pretty minor to them. But to me it’s massive. It was pretty sweet to have them reach out.”
A wild card recipient at the Australian Open, Kokkinakis hasn’t had much time to celebrate. He’s already preparing for his Monday matchup against German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann at Melbourne Park. Who knows? Beyond that might just lie a second-round tussle with 20-time Slam champ Rafael Nadal. Ironically, their only previous encounter came at this same event all the way back in 2014, with the Spaniard prevailing 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 in the second round.
“I’d love to get that opportunity,” said Kokkinakis, who after reaching a career-high World No. 69 in 2015 struggled with a seemingly endless array of physical setbacks, shoulder surgery and glandular fever among them. “I’m not looking ahead at all though. I’ve got a tough player who has won three quality matches in qualifying. He’s obviously playing some good tennis. I’ve just got to be ready to go mentally. It’s the most tennis I’ve probably ever played in such a short amount of time. I just got to be sharp and ready to go.”
The texts came in bunches, a torrent of congratulatory notes that began popping up on Thanasi Kokkinakis’ phone the moment he closed out Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech 6-7(6), 7-6(5), 6-3 on Saturday at the Adelaide International 2. Everyone knew what it meant for him to claim his first tour-level title after years of injuries and disappointments.
“It has surprised me a little bit,” said Kokkinakis, whose emotional and long-awaited breakthrough fittingly came in front of friends and family on home turf. “I felt some serious love from a lot of people. It actually means a lot. I don’t know if I’ve walked past one person that hasn’t stopped me and congratulated me.
“It’s an unbelievable feeling, to be honest, something I haven’t experienced in a long time, maybe ever. Hopefully, now it’s a sign that I can keep going. Gives me a lot more motivation as well. I don’t want to stop here.”
Perhaps none of those messages meant more than the two that came from Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
“It’s awesome having that support, two guys that have done so much, to reach out to me,” he said. “They’ve won about a million of them, so it was probably pretty minor to them. But to me it’s massive. It was pretty sweet to have them reach out.”
A wild card recipient at the Australian Open, Kokkinakis hasn’t had much time to celebrate. He’s already preparing for his Monday matchup against German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann at Melbourne Park. Who knows? Beyond that might just lie a second-round tussle with 20-time Slam champ Rafael Nadal. Ironically, their only previous encounter came at this same event all the way back in 2014, with the Spaniard prevailing 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 in the second round.
“I’d love to get that opportunity,” said Kokkinakis, who after reaching a career-high World No. 69 in 2015 struggled with a seemingly endless array of physical setbacks, shoulder surgery and glandular fever among them. “I’m not looking ahead at all though. I’ve got a tough player who has won three quality matches in qualifying. He’s obviously playing some good tennis. I’ve just got to be ready to go mentally. It’s the most tennis I’ve probably ever played in such a short amount of time. I just got to be sharp and ready to go.”
