At the Australian Open, Thanasi Kokkinakis suffered a recurrence of an old injury during his match against British No. 1 Jack Draper, ultimately leading to his elimination from the tournament, leaving him frustrated and questioning his career. This injury has also cast doubt on Kokkinakis's prospects of partnering with Nick Kyrgios in the doubles competition.
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02-07, 2025In a grueling four-and-a-half-hour, five-set marathon match, facing a boisterous crowd, 15th seed Draper emerged victorious with a score of 6-7 (3/7), 6-3, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, with the match concluding close to midnight. Kokkinakis expressed that while losing is part of the game, he has been battling a pectoral muscle injury that has plagued his career, causing him both mental and physical "torture."
"Even if I won, I couldn't play the next match. I'm annoyed. I still had chances to win," Kokkinakis told reporters after his Australian Open exit. "Yeah, I'm pissed." Kokkinakis had an opportunity to secure the match while serving in the fourth set but failed to hold. As the match progressed, the 28-year-old's body also began to falter. He called for medical timeouts in both the third and fifth sets to receive treatment for his injury, which also led to his withdrawal from the Adelaide International last week.
Kokkinakis said it is a lingering problem, "definitely a tear," which flares up every time he wins a few rounds or plays a long match. "I was just trying to hang in there (today). I was borderline to even play this week again. I’ve had countless painkillers to try and get through it," Kokkinakis said. "For years I've tried to manage it artificially instead of surgery, just doing the best I can. That’s why I can’t string together big tournaments." "I think that’s one of the main things that’s holding me back from achieving what I want… Essentially, no matter how much I train, how much I try, I can’t string together intense matches."
This marks Kokkinakis's sixth appearance in the second round of the Australian Open men's singles, and also his sixth failure to advance further. Kokkinakis stated that he now anticipates taking some time away from the sport and will consult with specialists, as he needs to make some significant decisions about his tennis career. "Once I can calm down and not want to punch a wall, (I will) try and figure out what the next step is," Kokkinakis said. "But it’s pretty clear that what I’m doing isn’t working." He plans to team up with Kyrgios for the doubles competition later in the tournament, and while carefully not ruling it out formally, he expressed serious doubts about the idea.
Kokkinakis and Kyrgios won the Australian Open men's doubles title together in 2022. The duo, known as the "Special Ks," have garnered a large and fervent following. "I feel like I’ve let him down, let people down," he said. "But I won’t be able to lift my arm tomorrow. So we’ll see. Unless we’re both underarming serves, it’s not looking too likely."
Draper showed great fortitude on Wednesday night in front of a hostile crowd. He has also been playing with an injury recently and admitted after his win that he was unsure if he would even be able to compete at the Australian Open at the end of last year. "I was on the sidelines for the off-season, not really playing, and I didn’t know if I was going to be able to come here and compete," Draper said about his hip injury. As the night progressed, a large part of the Australian crowd would applaud Draper’s errors and cheer loudly between serves. "This is what I’ve been working for. Since I was young, I wanted to play in front of big crowds – whether you’re for me or against me," said Draper, who also paid his respects to Kokkinakis. "(But) it’s incredibly tough to play in that atmosphere." "It was a really tough match, but he’s obviously an incredible player and every time I play him I have a lot of respect for him. He’s going to bring his best, especially in Australia, he’s very dangerous."
