An entertaining and charismatic on-court presence, Thanasi Kokkinakis overcame a heartbreaking collection of damage setbacks to change into an ATP Tour champion for the primary time in 2022 with a dream run in his hometown of Adelaide.
Just a couple of weeks later, Kokkinakis was holding one other trophy — the 2022 Australian Open males’s doubles crown — alongside his shut good friend and fellow Australian Nick Kyrgios. The duo’s emotional run at their residence Grand Slam options within the first episode of Netflix’s new behind-the-scenes collection Break Point. ATPTour.com runs down 5 issues chances are you’ll not learn about one half of the duo generally known as the ‘Special Ks’.
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1. He Has Shown Great Resilience In The Face Of Injuries
Kokkinakis was simply 19 when he first cracked the Top 100 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings in 2015, however since then he has endured a collection of damage setbacks which have restricted his time on courtroom. Each time, nevertheless, the Australian has put within the exhausting yards to return again and in January 2022 he received his maiden ATP Tour title in his hometown of Adelaide.
“I proved that the thoughts might be a very powerful factor,” Kokkinakis informed ATPTour.com when requested how he had overcome adversity to search out success. “Obviously you’ve bought to have some ability and a piece ethic to steadiness it out, however should you’re sturdy together with your thoughts and you retain pushing, you by no means know. The lucky factor with tennis is you’re solely per week away from turning your profession round, in order that’s the largest factor.”
Thanasi Kokkinakis kisses the centre courtroom in his hometown of Adelaide after his 2022 title win.
2. His Heart Belongs At Home
While some gamers battle to carry out below the burden of residence stress, Kokkinakis has typically spoken about his love for being at residence with household and mates. His 2022 Adelaide success is maybe a mirrored image of how comfy the Australian feels in his residence atmosphere.
“I would not need to win my first title wherever else,” stated Kokkinakis after lifting the trophy on his residence courtroom. “To my household, mates and coaches, what a trip it has been… I’ve been taking part in and practising on this courtroom since I used to be eight or 9 years outdated, coming right here earlier than college each day. I really like this courtroom a lot.”
3. He Loves Life As A ‘Special Okay’
While a high-energy character on the singles courtroom, Kokkinakis’ doubles partnership with Nick Kyrgios is famend for its sense of enjoyable and crowd engagement. The shut mates, who’ve identified one another since they have been junior gamers in Australia, share a singular on-court bond that Kokkinakis admits he finds refreshing.
“We all the time speak garbage collectively, taking part in with him is all the time an expertise,” stated Kokkinakis previous to the pair’s Australian Open title run in 2022. “I do not assume we’re essentially the most form of conventional doubles pairing you will see. We have enjoyable on the market. We wish to get the group going… Being on courtroom with one another, we will type of loosen up a bit bit, type of feed off one another. It provides us a superb form of bond.”
4. Thanasi Is A Big Fan Of This Basketball Player…
Like his good good friend Kyrgios, Kokkinakis is a large basketball fan. Unlike Boston Celtics die-hard Kyrgios, nevertheless, Kokkinakis’ allegiance lies largely with a single NBA participant versus one staff.
The Australian is a large admirer of Phoenix Suns’ level guard Chris Paul. Kokkinakis has admitted that, in terms of basketball, he’ll solely actually observe the staff Paul performs for, not less than till he retires. He even had the possibility to fulfill his basketball idol in 2013, when Paul was taking part in for the Los Angeles Clippers.
5. He Is Bilingual
Although he’s a born-and-bred Aussie, Kokkinakis’ mother and father each have Greek roots. Despite by no means having lived in Geece, he can communicate the language, with the assistance of an occasional English phrase to fill within the gaps!
“I do communicate Greek. Not as fluently as my mother and father would really like, however I’m not unhealthy,” defined Kokkinakis in 2015. “I perceive the whole lot. I can string collectively most sentences, however some I battle. I’ve to throw an English phrase in there. Both my mother and father have been born in Greece. My dad moved over to Australia when he was 5 and them went again on vacation, and that is when he met my mother, when she was like 23, and introduced her over.”
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