Thanasi Kokkinakis upset fifth seed Jiri Lehecka in straight units Tuesday on the Arizona Tennis Classic. Just a few hours after the Aussie’s victory, he attended the Phoenix Suns vs. Milwaukee Bucks NBA sport.
The 26-year-old has been a longtime fan of the NBA and most notably the Suns’ level guard Chris Paul.
“I just about comply with Chris Paul wherever he goes. He’s my favorite participant. Until he retires, I’ll follow him,” Kokkinakis instructed ATPTour.com. “I noticed him play after I was youthful for Team USA and New Orleans and I simply preferred the way in which he performed. He wasn’t somebody that was lots of people’s favorite participant, I wished to go a little bit completely different from the mainstream. He’s actual clean, actual sensible.
“We had the identical company some time again, so I’ve met him just a few instances. We keep up a correspondence on social media typically. It’s fairly cool, he’s a pleasant man. Him and Tracy McGrady had been my favourites.”
Kokkinakis attended the sport alongside his coach Todd Langman and countryman Alexei Popyrin, who additionally earned a first-round victory on the Phoenix Challenger on Tuesday. The Bucks, who’re main the NBA’s Eastern Conference, defeated the Suns 116-104. Milwaukee’s ahead Giannis Antetokounmpo completed because the main scorer with 36 factors.
“Giannis really adopted me on Instagram in January, I feel it was after the [Andy] Murray match [at the Australian Open],” Kokkinakis stated. “One of my mates, Joe Ingles, is definitely enjoying for Milwaukee as properly. Pretty bummed that Kevin Durant is injured however nonetheless numerous good gamers.”
From left to proper: Alexei Popyrin, Thanasi Kokkinakis, Joe Ingles, Todd Langman. Credit: Bianca Giannone
A passionate and fiery participant on the court docket, Kokkinakis likes to remain relaxed away from tennis and luxuriate in any downtime he will get.
“It’s been some time since I’ve been to an NBA sport, I went across the Miami Open final yr,” Kokkinakis stated. “The tennis tour is fairly full on, so every time we get a little bit of spare time and exit and do one thing, I attempt to profit from it. For me, attempting to do as many issues off court docket will make my time on tour higher.”
In episode one of many Netflix collection Break Point, followers are given an inside look of Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios’ doubles title run on the 2022 Australian Open. When the Aussies aren’t enjoying tennis, you will discover the shut mates having fun with their fair proportion of NBA banter.
“He’s an enormous Celtics fan, they’ve a legit shot this yr. They’ve bought an excellent crew,” Kokkinakis stated. “I’m an enormous Suns fan, so they may match up within the NBA Finals. We speak numerous [trash], we’ve roomed collectively for ages so we watch numerous basketball collectively.”
Kokkinakis will subsequent be in motion Thursday on the Phoenix Challenger in opposition to Pavel Kotov or Jan-Lennard Struff.
Source: www.atptour.com