Australia's Thanasi Kokkinakis (L) reacts after a point as he plays with Australia's Nick Kyrgios against Spain's Marcel Granollers and Argentina's Horacio Zeballos during their men's doubles semi-final match on day eleven of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 27, 2022. - -- IMAGE RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - STRICTLY NO COMMERCIAL USE -- (Photo by BRANDON MALONE / AFP) / -- IMAGE RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - STRICTLY NO COMMERCIAL USE -- (Photo by BRANDON MALONE/AFP via Getty Images)
Kyrgios and Kokkinakis are doubles partners and have been very close to each other since childhood – Kyriakis.
Thanasi Kokkinakis was given an (unintended) reality check after his first-round victory at the Australian Open. The Australian defeated Italy’s Fabio Fognini 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 at the Kia Arena but it was his post-match press conference that has been in the news for understandable reasons. A journalist mistakenly addressed Kokkinakis as ‘Nick’ (with obvious reference to Nick Kyrgios‘), before quickly correcting himself and that led to a hilarious interaction.
Once Kokkinakis was ready to receive questions after the win, he was left stunned when a journalist mistakenly called him ‘Nick’. “Wow. That is firing, that’s you done,” Kokkinakis replied in a humorous way. When the next journalist referred to him as Thanasi, the 26-year-old chimed in with, “you’ve already done better”. Kokkinakis’ good mate, ‘Nick’ Kyrgios saw the funny side of the banter and wrote on Twitter: “Kyriakis”. Kokkinakis and Kyrgios’ friendship became tennis folklore in 2022 when they went on to win the Australian Open men’s doubles title. However, the pair didn’t get a chance to defend their title as Kyrgios had to pull out this year due to an injury.
Nick Kyrgios was forced to withdraw from the Australian Open just 24 hours ahead of his first-round clash. The Australian star has an injury to his left knee that will require arthroscopic surgery. Kyrgios was scheduled to play against Roman Safiullin in the first round of the singles draw while he was set to partner Thanasi Kokkinakis and take on the pair of Barrientos/Behar in doubles.
Kyrgios confirmed his withdrawal during a conference on Day 1 at Melbourne Park and revealed that a routine MRI scan has indicated a small tear and a cyst in his lateral meniscus. Kyrgios is expected to return to Canberra for surgery in the next couple of weeks and this is certainly heart-breaking for both him and his fans. He later took to Twitter and vowed to come back stronger after fans expressed how much they are going to miss him. “I know. Trust me, my heart is broken. But I’m on the table Monday to get fixed, I’ll be back”, he wrote.
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