Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis not serious for Australian Open title defense as individual glory takes centerstage
The 2022 Australian Open doubles champion Kokkinakis believes things have changed in 2023 compared to last year.
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Thanasi Kokkinakis, Nick Kyrgios (Image: Fox Sports)
Australian tennis player Thanasi Kokkinakis made headlines after winning the doubles title at the 2022 Australian Open along with Nick Kyrgios. This remains the first and only Grand Slam title of the career of the “doubles specialist.” However, more interestingly, this year too, before the start of the season, Kikkinakis remained a strong contender to defend his crown, but some setbacks have dented his plans.
In the Adelaide International, he fell short against Bautista Agut in the semifinals, which made the Australian rethink his prospects. Kokkinakis opened up about how he felt before going into the season’s first Grand Slam. The 26-year-old believes things have changed this year compared to the last. As for Kyrgios, he too is looking for individual Grand Slam glory in Melbourne this year.
Assessing his chances along with his compatriot Nick Kyrgios, Kokkinakis did not sound enthusiastic. “We’ll play, but if I told you I think we’re going to defend the title I’d be lying,’ the Aussie said. “We only thought about winning it, to be honest, pretty much in the quarters onwards when we were both out of singles,” he further added.
Emphasizing the changed priorities this time Kokkinakis elaborated, “We’re going to try and do as well as we can in singles, doubles is a bonus, hopefully, our bodies hold up.” “I wasn’t coming into this year thinking I’ve got to defend my doubles title,” Kokkinakis explained putting his singles career ahead of the doubles.
Related: Nick Kyrgios flaunts his favourite tag while calling Nadal and Djokovic ‘animals’
Thanasi Kokkinakis is shifting his focus toward singles
The 2022 Adelaide International 2 winner believes that it is the right time for him to focus on the singles game instead of the doubles. He is going into the Australian Open after having overcome Russian World No. Andrey Rublev. “I wasn’t expecting to achieve much in doubles, I don’t feel like I need to do anything more in doubles; I want to build my singles career,” said Kokkinakis.
Kokkinakis will begin his campaign in the first round against Italian Fabio Foginini. He believes that that early exit from Adelaide International has a silver lining for him, as he can take the extra days to step up his chances in the singles. The Italian World No. 57 will undoubtedly be a difficult challenge for Kokkinakis, who is looking for redemption.
“Hopefully, I can use those days to an advantage,” Kokkinakis said. “It’s hard playing every day … I’ve had some battles against good players.’I’ll use days wisely, get used to the conditions in Melbourne and give it a red-hot crack there,” Kokkinakis further added.
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Abhinavendu Singh
(290 Articles Published)