WATCH: Thanasi Kokkinakis furiously confronts the chair umpire during the match against Andrey Rublev in Adelaide
The Australian argued with the umpire when he was given a time violation
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Thanasi Kokkinakis argues with the umpire
Thanasi Kokkinakis had a heated exchange with the chair umpire after he was hit with a time violation during the first set of his clash with Andrey Rublev. Kokkinakis approached the umpire when the violation was called and protested that he was waiting for the crowd to quieten and not wasting time, leading to a delay in his serve. But his protests fell on deaf ears.
Kokkinakis won a point when Rublev hit a poor shot out. The lousy quality of the shot led to a cry of frustration by the Russian. The crowd enjoyed this reaction and cheered to spur on local boy Kokkinakis. The Australian then took his time as the crowd slowly quietened and was about to serve when the violation was called. A disgruntled Kokkinakis rushed to the chair umpire, calling it “a terrible decision”
The umpire told Kokkinakis that he was supposed to carry on and serve regardless of the noise. The Australian Open doubles champion did not take that feedback well and continued to argue. He criticized the umpire for not quietening the crowd sooner and not watching him as he walked away. Kokkinakis even told the umpire to “do your job.” The exchange was met with cheers as the home crowd clearly supported the player on this occasion.
The incident left a small dent in what was a big day for the Adelaide native. The player beat highly rated Rublev and progressed to the next round of the Adelaide International 2. He put in a terrific performance and was rewarded for his effort.
Kokkinakis has put in great performances at the tournament so far. There was much expectation of him as the defending champion, and he has promptly shown why. He now moves into the quarter-finals and will be looking to lift the trophy again.
Thanasi Kokkinakis stuns Andrey Rublev
Kokkinakis put in a terrific performance against World No.6 Andrey Rublev. His 6-4,3-6,6-3 win was his third over a top-ten-ranked player. The stunning win came in just under two hours.
Delivering his trademark serves, the Aussie fired 17 aces and recorded only a single double fault on his way to victory. He acknowledged later that the serve is a great indicator of his confidence. He said,” It’s a big part of my game. If I’m serving well I feel like I have a chance to beat a lot of guys.”
Kokkinakis will now face Miomir Kecmanovic in the quarterfinals. He will hope to go all the way and boost his confidence for the Australian Open. The Slam starts next week and Kokkinakis will enter as the doubles defending champion with close friend Nick Kyrgios.
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Samarth Srivastava
(139 Articles Published)