Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis book ATP Finals spot, but Kyrgios rues singles blow – ‘We won’t speak of that’
Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis have become the fifth doubles team to secure their places in the ATP Finals although Kyrgios has lamented missing out on qualification for the singles event.
Close friends Kyrgios and Kokkinakis won their first-ever Grand Slam doubles crown at the beginning of the year as they went on a magical run to capture the Australian Open title.
Although they are currently seventh in the Race to Turin, they are assured of their place in the tournament by virtue of winning a Grand Slam and being between eighth and 20th ATP Doubles Team Rankings after the Paris Masters. They can also no longer be caught by Wimbledon champions Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell.
Special Ks, as they were dubbed by media at Melbourne Park, also won the Atlanta Open and reached the semi-final of the Miami Open.
They will join Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski, Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury, Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer, and Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic in the line-up and the last three places will be decided at Paris Masters this week.
Kyrgios, though, celebrated the achievement by taking a swipe at the rules that prevented him from being in with a chance of qualifying for the singles event as well.
The Australian is currently on 1,870 points in the singles Race to Turin, but he missed out on 1,200 points after finishing runner-up at Wimbledon as no points were awarded due to the All England Club’s decision to ban Russian and Belarusian players from the tournament.
“Should of (sic) been in singles as well [but] no points at Wimbledon 😂😂,” he wrote on an Instagram Story. “First time in 53 years but we won’t speak of that 🤷♂️😮💨.”
On the back of Novak Djokovic qualifying for the singles in Turin following his Wimbledon success, British No 1 Cameron Norrie admitted that he was confused by the rule and felt it was unfair on other players like Kyrgios.
The Australian’s agent Stuart Duguid told Daily Mail: “First and foremost, Novak deserves to be in Turin. But it feels arbitrary that he is the only player to benefit from his performances at Wimbledon.
“Players’ endorsement contracts are affected by their year-end ranking and whether or not they qualify for the Finals. Many, such as Nick, will be out of pocket, whereas Novak has been made whole.”
