Welcome back, Thanasi Kokkinakis! Competing in just his fifth tournament in seven months, the Aussie announced his return to the ATP World Tour in emphatic fashion. Kokkinakis produced the biggest upset thus far in 2018, stunning defending champion Roger Federer at the Miami Open presented by Itau on Saturday. His first victory over a World No. 1 was a thrilling comeback from a set down. The 21-year-old Aussie roared back for the signature win of his young career, exhibiting the poise and precision of a veteran to topple the three-time Miami champion 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(4). "This is nuts," said Kokkinakis. "It's an unreal week for me. I've trained with [Federer] a bunch of times and he's a great role model...
Miami has always been a special place for Alexander Zverev. It was the site of his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 win in 2015 as well as his first Top 10 win at the elite level last year, when he defeated top-seeded Stan Wawrinka en route to the quarter-finals. The German is off to another good start at the Miami Open presented by Itau, outlasting recent Sydney champion Daniil Medvedev 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(5) in a second-round thriller on Saturday. "It was not an easy match, but if you look at my history, the tournaments I do well in have very tough opening rounds," said Zverev. "I didn't play my best, but it's very important to find ways to win...
Yoshihito Nishioka has made coming back from a major knee injury look simple this week at the Miami Open presented by Itau. He scouted his #NextGenATP opponent by watching YouTube videos. He adapted his gamestyle and played aggressively against Aussie Alex de Minaur. Then, during only his fifth match of the past 12 months, he routed the Sydney International finalist to set a second-round contest with 10th seed Tomas Berdych. But don't let the soft-spoken left-hander's easy success deceive you: Nishioka's rehab from a torn ACL in his left knee was as arduous as you'd expect. After surgery in early April 2017, Nishioka couldn't run for three months. He couldn't play tennis for nine months. Every day, he trudged to...
The clips are all over YouTube, moments Adrian Mannarino wished never would have occurred. There's the time he threw his racquet against the fence at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Lexington, U.S.A, causing a ball boy to flinch. Another time he lost his cool in Stockholm and lobbed his racquet across the court. Plenty more exist, Mannarino knows, because that's how the Frenchman used to react to a missed forehand or a double fault. “I was getting frustrated so easily just losing my serve once, missing one easy shot, and I was getting out of the match so quickly. Also, I was feeling like my opponents knew it,” Mannarino told ATPWorldTour.com. His opponents thought, Mannarino said, “OK, I just...
Age is just a number, right? Especially these days, players in their 30s play as if they're in their 20s, and players in their 20s bounce back as if they're in their late teens. Aussie Thanasi Kokkinakis completely agrees. The 21-year-old doesn't feel like he's only two years removed from his teenaged years. Kokkinakis, who's spent the past two seasons battling injuries, feels closer to the age of his second-round opponent, Roger Federer. “I feel like a bit of a veteran in some ways. I'm 21, but I feel a lot older. I don't know if that's a good thing, probably a bad thing. I definitely feel like I'm in my late 30s, at least,” Kokkinakis told ATPWorldTour.com. Watch: Kokkinakis...
