Thanasi Kokkinakis gives big Nick Kyrgios hint and urges tennis to embrace change

Kevin Palmer
Add as a preferred source on Google
Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios pose after their Australian Open men's doubles victory
Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios won the 2022 Australian Open doubles title

Thanasi Kokkinakis has given an enticing update on the imminent return of his great friend Nick Kyrgios and given a big hint that they could team up once again at the Australian Open next month.

Kyrgios has confirmed he is returning to competitive tennis, taking part in the Brisbane International in December which will also feature Novak Djokovic.

In an interview with 9News, Kyrgios confirmed his plans to return and talked up his hopes of big success.

“Honestly, this is probably the best I’ve felt in two years,” said the always-confident Aussie.

“I played that amazing year in 2022. Then at the finals at Wimbledon and US Open, that’s when I started feeling some issues in my wrist. I had that wrist reconstruction and now I’m feeling amazing.

“It was a 15 miracle per cent chance that I was going to get back to playing at this level and here we are.

“To get back out there in front of the home fans is going to be sick.”

Those positive sentiments from the 2022 Wimbledon singles finalists have now been backed up by Kokkinakis, who won the 2022 Australian Open doubles title with Kyrgios in that same year.

Speaking to Tennis365 as he prepares to play in the UTS Grand Final in London, Kokkinakis told us that he is considering reviving his doubles partnership with Kyrgios in the first Grand Slam tournament of 2025.

“He played great in the UTS New York event (in August) and hopefully we can have him back on the tour in January,” said Kokkinakis.

“Tennis has missed him and I’m sure the Aussie public would love to get behind him again.

“It’s tough when you have been out of the game for so long as you never know how your level is going to be when you start playing matches.

“I’m sure his level will be great because he has been ready to play for a while now. I have no doubts he will be in good form. Motivation is such a big thing in tennis and I’m sure he will be hungry to come back and play again.”

When we asked whether his doubles dream team with Kyrgios would be revived at the Australian Open, Kokkinakis replied: “Maybe. We are thinking about it.”

Kokkinakis spoke to Tennis365 ahead of the start of the UTS Grand Finals in London, where he is one of eight players taking part in the lucrative end-of-season exhibition tournament.

Andrey Rublev, Alex de Minaur and Holger Rune are among the star names taking part in the quick-fire form of tennis devised by coaching giant Patrick Mouratoglou, with Kokkinakis suggesting tennis needs to be open to embracing change.

“If they can work with the ATP Tour to have more of these events, it will be good for tennis,” he added.

“It attracts more fans, more spectators in the stands and more enjoyment. Tennis has been one way for so long and it’s great to have a format like this that is new and really engages with the fans.

“Hopefully it’s not as late in the year so we can have a bit more of a break, but that is where the ATP could step in and help.

“This is a tennis equivalent of 20/20 cricket and people have loved that, so I think it needs to happen in tennis. They are obviously trying, but tennis has a long way to go.

“The schedule is too long and there are a lot of events that are not exciting enough for fans. If the season was nine months, that would still be a long season, but it would allow us to play events like this.”

WHAT IS UTS?

* 4 quarters of 8 minutes each
* Less time (15 seconds) between points
* No second serve
* Unlimited coaching from the sidelines
* Player interviews between the quarters
* Strategic use of bonus cards by players

Related Articles