After 15 months away from the ATP World Tour due to injury, Thanasi Kokkinakis is wasting no time making headlines at the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp. Competing in his first tournament back, Kokkinakis and fellow Australian Jordan Thompson advanced to the doubles final on Saturday. The wild card pairing delighted the home crowd by winning nine of the final 10 games in a convincing 6-3, 6-1 win over fourth seeds Daniel Nestor/Edouard Roger-Vasselin. “We weren’t originally going to play together in this tournament, but a couple of injuries happened and we ended up teaming together,” said Kokkinakis. “Obviously it worked out.” Kokkinakis underwent shoulder surgery in December 2015, then tore a pectoral muscle leading into the US Open and...
Australian Next Gen start Thanasi Kokkinakis is set to play his first ATP World Tour singles match in more than a year at the Apia International Sydney next week after a confidence-boosting run to the semi-finals of the Brisbane International doubles. Kokkinakis is happy with how his right shoulder has held up in two doubles wins with fellow Australian Jordan Thompson in Brisbane this week, including Thursday’s 1-6, 6-4, 10-7 upset of top seeds and reigning Wimbledon champions Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut. “The body felt good today,” Kokkinakis said. “I feel I am still five to 10 percent off. Getting the confidence back in the body is the biggest thing. “I’m excited (to take the Sydney wild card]. I...
Watch Jordan Thompson records the biggest win of his career over David Ferrer on Wednesday in Brisbane. Photo: Peter Staples/ATP World Tour. Video courtesy Tennis Australia.
Home favourite Jordan Thompson kicked off the 2017 ATP World Tour season with his first win at the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp. The 22-year-old Thompson, who's playing at a career-high ranking of No. 79, beat #NextGen player Elias Ymer of Sweden 6-3, 6-2 on Sunday in a battle of wild cards. The Sydney native won 93 per cent of his first-serve points and saved one of two break points faced. He'll face countryman Bernard Tomic or eighth seed David Ferrer in round two. “It's always good to start off a new year with a win, especially here in Brisbane,” Thompson said. “I didn't make too many errors. I returned pretty well, and movement was good.” Aussie wild cards also...
Aussie duo Jordan Thompson and Luke Saville talk about their title run at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Canberra, Australia. Video courtesy Tennis Australia.