An entertaining and charismatic on-court presence, Thanasi Kokkinakis overcame a heartbreaking collection of harm setbacks to grow to be an ATP Tour champion for the primary time in 2022 with a dream run in his hometown of Adelaide.
Just some 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 Level. ATPTour.com runs down 5 issues it’s possible you’ll not find out about one half of the duo often known as the ‘Particular Ks’.
1. He Has Proven Nice Resilience In The Face Of Accidents
Kokkinakis was simply 19 when he first cracked the Prime 100 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings in 2015, however since then he has endured a collection of harm setbacks which have restricted his time on court docket. Every time, nonetheless, 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 crucial factor,” Kokkinakis instructed ATPTour.com when requested how he had overcome adversity to seek out success. “Clearly you’ve acquired to have some talent and a piece ethic to stability it out, however in the event you’re robust along 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.”
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Thanasi Kokkinakis kisses the centre court docket in his hometown of Adelaide after his 2022 title win.
2. His Coronary heart Belongs At House
Whereas some gamers wrestle to carry out below the load of residence strain, Kokkinakis has typically spoken about his love for being at residence with household and buddies. His 2022 Adelaide success is maybe a mirrored image of how comfy the Australian feels in his residence surroundings.
“I would not wish to win my first title anyplace else,” mentioned Kokkinakis after lifting the trophy on his residence court docket. “To my household, buddies and coaches, what a journey it has been… I’ve been taking part in and practising on this court docket since I used to be eight or 9 years outdated, coming right here earlier than faculty each day. I really like this court docket a lot.”
3. He Loves Life As A ‘Particular Okay’
Whereas a high-energy character on the singles court docket, Kokkinakis’ doubles partnership with Nick Kyrgios is famend for its sense of enjoyable and crowd engagement. The shut buddies, who’ve recognized one another since they have been junior gamers in Australia, share a singular on-court bond that Kokkinakis admits he finds refreshing.
“We at all times discuss garbage collectively, taking part in with him is at all times an expertise,” mentioned Kokkinakis previous to the pair’s Australian Open title run in 2022. “I do not assume we’re probably the most kind of conventional doubles pairing you may see. We’ve enjoyable on the market. We prefer to get the group going… Being on court docket with one another, we will type of loosen up a bit of bit, type of feed off one another. It provides us kind of bond.”
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4. Thanasi Is A Massive Fan Of This Basketball Participant…
Like his good good friend Kyrgios, Kokkinakis is a large basketball fan. Not like Boston Celtics die-hard Kyrgios, nonetheless, Kokkinakis’ allegiance lies largely with a single NBA participant versus one group.
The Australian is a large admirer of Phoenix Suns’ level guard Chris Paul. Kokkinakis has admitted that, in relation to basketball, he’ll solely actually observe the group Paul performs for, at the least 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
Though he’s a born-and-bred Aussie, Kokkinakis’ mother and father each have Greek roots. Regardless of by no means having lived in Geece, he can converse the language, with the assistance of an occasional English phrase to fill within the gaps!
“I do converse Greek. Not as fluently as my mother and father would really like, however I am not unhealthy,” defined Kokkinakis in 2015. “I perceive every thing. I can string collectively most sentences, however some I wrestle. I’ve to throw an English phrase in there. Each 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.”