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April 15, 2024
Thanasi Kokkinakis defeats Zizou Bergs in the Sarasota Challenger final.Wade Thomas
Thanasi Kokkinakis defeats Zizou Bergs in the Sarasota Challenger final.
By ATP Staff
Thanasi Kokkinakis earned a double prize Sunday when he captured his sixth ATP Challenger Tour trophy and guaranteed his place in next month’s Roland Garros main draw.

The Australian defeated Belgian Zizou Bergs 6-3, 1-6, 6-0 in the Elizabeth Moore Sarasota Open final to claim his first clay-court title since 2021 and return to the Top 100 of the PIF ATP Rankings on Monday, the same day of Roland Garros' main draw cutoff.

“The prize was Roland Garros main draw [entry], the Grand Slam where I’ve had my best success,” World No. 94 Kokkinakis told commentator Mike Cation. “I’m just proud of the way I competed and found a way… It wasn’t pretty a lot of the week. Tricky conditions to play here honestly and I just tried to outscrap my opponent.”

<a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/than ... w'>Thanasi Kokkinakis</a> is crowned champion at the <a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/scores/archi ... >Elizabeth Moore Sarasota Open</a>.
Thanasi Kokkinakis is crowned champion at the Elizabeth Moore Sarasota Open. Credit: Cliff Menezes

The third seed Kokkinakis overcame several obstacles throughout the week, from rain delays, windy conditions and a foot injury to lift the trophy.

“My foot was struggling. I was in the MRI room pretty much the day before I played, I was really struggling," Kokkinakis said. "Then match-by-match it started to feel a little bit better. I was playing with some swelling and just looking after it.”

The 28-year-old will next month make his fifth appearance at Roland Garros, where he has twice reached the third round (2015, 2023).

Bergs, 24, would have made his Top 100 debut in the PIF ATP Rankings had he defeated Kokkinakis in the championship.