Thanasi Kokkinakis

Thanasi Kokkinakis

Kokkinakis at the 2013 US Open
Country  Australia
Residence Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Born 10 April 1996[1]
Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Height 196 cm (6 ft 5 in)
Turned pro 2013
Plays Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Coach(es) Todd Langman
Prize money $183,464
Singles
Career record 9–13 (40.91% in Grand Slam and ATP World Tour main draw matches, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles 0
Highest ranking No. 107 (6 April 2015)
Current ranking No. 107 (6 April 2015)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open 2R (2014, 2015)
French Open Q3 (2014)
US Open Q2 (2014)
Doubles
Career record 1–3
Career titles 0
Highest ranking 253 (18 August 2014)
Current ranking 408 (05 January 2015)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open 1R (2013, 2014)
Last updated on: 23 March 2015.

Thanasi Kokkinakis (born 10 April 1996) is an Australian professional tennis player of Greek descent. Kokkinakis began playing tennis when he was eight years old. As of 6 April 2015 he is ranked World No. 107 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). As a junior, Kokkinakis enjoyed a successful career in which he reached two junior grand slam singles finals at the 2013 Australian Open and 2013 US Open.[2] He represented Australia in the ITF World Junior Tennis Competition in 2010. He was a member of Australia's Junior Davis Cup team that won the competition's silver medal in September 2012, losing to Italy in the final, held in Barcelona, Spain.[3]

Personal life

Kokkinakis was born in Adelaide, South Australia to Greek immigrant parents, Trevor from Kalamata, Greece and Voula from Tripoli, Greece. His tennis idol growing up was Marat Safin.[4]

Junior career

Kokkinakis received a wildcard into the 2013 Australian Open juniors tournament and eventually reached the final taking down the 12th, 2nd and 11th seeds on his way. In the final he faced fellow Australian Nick Kyrgios. After having two set points in the first set he eventually lost 7–6(4) 6–3.

In June, he returned to competitive play at Wimbledon, and made the third round in the boys' singles and won the boys' doubles with Nick Kyrgios.[5]

Kokkinakis lost the final of Boys' Singles, losing in three sets against Borna Coric, 6–3 3–6 1–6.

Junior Grand Slam Singles results

Tournament201120122013W–L
Junior Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open 1R 1R F 5–3
French Open A A A 0–0
Wimbledon A A 3R 2–1
US Open A A F 5–1
Win–Loss 0–1 0–1 12–3 12–5
Year-End Ranking – – 13

Professional career

2011–2013: Professional tour debut

Kokkinakis began his professional career at the Australia F3 Future's event at the age of 14 where he lost 6–8 in the third set tiebreak. He won his first professional match the next week at the Australia F4 event. He lost in the second round against Michael Venus.

In 2012, after playing Futures events in Australia, Slovenia, Germany and the Netherlands, Kokkinakis tied best result of the year where he reached the semi-final of the Belgium F4 event. He then returned to play Futures in Australia where he reached back to back quarterfinals in the F5 and F6 events where he lost to Luke Saville both times. He finished the year by reaching the semi-final at the Australia F12 event where he lost to Ben Mitchell.

He began 2013 by filling-in on the United States and German teams during the 2013 Hopman Cup as a replacement for injured John Isner and Tommy Haas.[6][7] Kokkinakis competed in the qualifying competition of the 2013 Australian Open, losing to Steve Johnson 15–17 in the third set. Kokkinakis sustained a stress fracture in his back in the Australian Open boys' final which kept him out of competition until mid 2013.[8] He then returned to competition playing Futures tournaments in the Czech Republic, Canada and the United States with the highlight being a quarterfinal of the Canada F5 event. In September and October, Kokkinakis competed in two Challenger events in the United States. The first was the 2013 Napa Valley Challenger where he qualified and reached the second round, going down to Bradley Klahn despite leading by a set. Then in the 2013 Sacramento Challenger he qualified and made the second round. He again lost despite leading by a set against Nick Kyrgios. As a result of this, his ranking increased to a career best of number 655. In October, Kokkinakis paired up with Benjamin Mitchell and won the Melbourne Challenger defeating Alex Bolt and Andrew Whittington in the final in straight sets. This increased his doubles ranking by 453 places, which put him up to a career high of number 505. He also reached the second round in the singles. He looked like he would cause a big upset after taking the first set against Matt Ebden before losing the next two sets. He finished his year at the 2013 Traralgon Challenger where he lost in the second round to James Duckworth in straight sets.

Despite missing half of the year due to injury, Kokkinakis finished 2013 with a ranking of number 627.

2014: Breakthrough to top 200

Kokkinakis began 2014 in qualifying at the 2014 Brisbane International after receiving a wild card. He qualified and drew fellow Australian and eventual tournament champion Lleyton Hewitt in round one where he went down in straight sets.[9][10] On 8 January, Kokkinakis was awarded a wild card into the 2014 Australian Open.[11] He defeated Igor Sijsling in the first round in four sets despite suffering from cramp.[12] He was defeated in the second round by top seed and world number one Rafael Nadal.[13]

Kokkinakis reached the semis of the 2014 Heilbronner Neckarcup coming through the qualifying and beating Jesse Huta Galung, Michael Russell and Marsel İlhan. He then lost to number 1 seed Jan-Lennard Struff and missed out on a place in his first ATP challenger tour final. Kokkinakis received a wild card in the French Open qualifying rounds, where he made the final, and despite having match point in the third set, he lost to Ante Pavić, 6–4, 6–7, 5–7. This result improved his ranking inside the top 300 for the first time. Kokkinakis won his first singles title in Canada on July 13, defeating Fritz Wolmarans in the final. Kokkinakis then qualified for the 2014 Shenzhen Open. He beat Egor Gerasimov 7–6(7–3), 6–1 in the first round for a place in the second round where he got beaten by 6th seed Santiago Giraldo 6–4, 6–3. Kokkinakis qualified for his second career Masters 1000 in Shanghai, but lost to Feliciano Lopez in the 1st round 7–6, 3–6, 4–6.

Kokkinakis finished 2014 with a ranking of number 150.

2015

Kokkinakis began 2015 at the Brisbane International where he received a wild card into the main draw.[14] In the first round he defeated 8th seed Julien Benneteau in straight sets.[15] He lost in the second round against compatriot Bernard Tomic.[16] Kokkinakis and Grigor Dimitrov were also awarded a wildcard into the doubles event. They reached the semifinals, where they lost to Kei Nishikori and Alexandr Dolgopolov.

Kokkinakis received a wildcard also into the 2015 Australian Open,[17] where he defeated 11th seed Ernests Gulbis in the first round,[18] and then lost to compatriot Sam Groth in five sets in round 2. In February, Kokkinakis qualified for three ATP World Tour events; Memphis, Delray and Mexican Open. In March, Kokkinakis played his first live rubber at the Davis Cup. He defeated Czech, Lukáš Rosol in five sets, 4–6, 2–6, 7–5, 7–5, 6–3. He was awarded a wild card into Indian Wells where he defeated Jan-Lennard Struff, Guillermo García-López and Juan Mónaco before losing to Bernard Tomic in the fourth round.

National representation

Davis Cup

Kokkinakis made his Davis Cup debut for Australia in February 2014 against France at the age of 17.[19] He was selected to play in the fourth rubber which was a dead rubber. He lost in straight sets to Julien Benneteau. He made his live debut in 2015, with a comeback win over Lukáš Rosol.

Singles performance timeline

Key
W  F  SF QF R# RR LQ (Q#) A P Z# PO SF-B F-S G NMS NH

Won tournament; or reached Final; Semifinal; Quarter-final; Round 4, 3, 2, 1; competed at a Round Robin stage; lost in Qualification Round; absent from tournament event; played in a Davis Cup Zonal Group (with its number indication) or Play-off; won a bronze, silver (F or S) or gold medal at the Olympics; a downgraded Masters Series/1000 tournament (Not a Masters Series); or a tournament that was Not Held in a given year.

To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated either at the conclusion of a tournament, or when the player's participation in the tournament has ended.

Current through the 2015 BNP Paribas Open

Tournament201320142015W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open Q1 2R 2R 2–2
French Open A Q3 0–0
Wimbledon A A 0–0
US Open A Q2 0–0
Win–Loss 0–0 1–1 1–1 2–2
Davis Cup
Singles A 1R 0–1
ATP Masters Series
Indian Wells Masters A Q1 4R 3–1
Miami Masters A A 1R 0–1
Monte Carlo Masters A A A 0–0
Madrid Masters A A 0–0
Rome Masters A A 0–0
Canada Masters A 1R 0–1
Cincinnati Masters A A 0–0
Shanghai Masters A 1R 0–1
Paris Masters A A 0–0
Win–Loss 0–0 0–2 3–2 3–4
Career statistics
Tournaments Played 1 7 7 15
Titles 0 0 0 0
Finals Reached 0 0 0 0
Hard Win–Loss 0–0 2–6 7–7 9–13
Clay Win–Loss 0–0 0–1 0–0 0–1
Grass Win–Loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0
Overall Win–Loss 0–0 2–7 7–7 9–14
Win (%) 0% 22% 50% 39%
Year-End Ranking 628 150

Professional career finals

Singles titles (1)

Legend (singles)
Grand Slam (0)
Tennis Masters Cup (0)
ATP Masters Series (0)
ATP Tour (0)
Challengers (0)
Futures (1–0)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Winner 1. 13 July 2014 Canada Saskatoon F5, Canada, CAN Hard South Africa Fritz Wolmarans 7–6(7-4), 7–6(7-3)

Doubles: 2 (2–0)

Legend (Singles)
Grand Slam (0–0)
ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–0)
ATP World Tour 500 Series (0–0)
ATP World Tour 250 Series (0–0)
ATP Challenger Tour (2–0)
ITF Futures Tour (0–0)
Titles by Surface
Hard (2–0)
Clay (0–0)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Winner 1. 21 October 2013 Australia Melbourne, Australia Hard Australia Benjamin Mitchell Australia Andrew Whittington
Australia Alex Bolt		 6–3, 6–2
Winner 2. 6 July 2014 United States Winnetka, United States Hard United States Denis Kudla United States Raymond Sarmiento
United States Evan King		 6–2, 7–6 (7–4)

References

  1. ↑ "Thanasi Kokkinakis". ATPWorldTour.com. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
  2. ↑ "Player Profiles Thanasi Kokkinakis". Tennis Australia. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
  3. ↑ "Junior Davis Cup team wins silver". 1 October 2012.
  4. ↑ TEN THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT THANASI KOKKINAKIS
  5. ↑ "Kyrgios and Kokkinakis claim doubles glory". Tennis Australia. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
  6. ↑ Schultz, Duane (4 January 2013). "Adelaide's Thanasi Kokkinakis enjoys time in Hopman Cup spotlight". The Advertiser.
  7. ↑ "Completed Matches". HopmanCup.com. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
  8. ↑ "Double blow for rising teen tennis star Thanasi Kokkinakis". Daily Telegraph. 27 January 2013. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  9. ↑ "South Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis qualifies for Brisbane International". Courier Mail. 30 December 2013. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  10. ↑ "Lleyton Hewitt overcomes Thanasi Kokkinakis in all-Australian Brisbane International match". ABC News. 1 January 2014. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  11. ↑ "Eight Australians handed final wildcard entries into Australian Open main draw". ABC News. 8 January 2014. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  12. ↑ "SA teen Thanasi Kokkinakis battles through to win his first Australian Open match". Courier Mail. 14 January 2014. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  13. ↑ "Thanasi Kokkinakis finds a fair defeat from Rafael Nadal". The Sydney Morning Herald. 17 January 2014. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  14. ↑ "Kokkinakis lands wildcard". Brisbane International. 29 December 2014. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  15. ↑ "Kokkinakis cruises past Benneteau". Brisbane International. 5 January 2015. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  16. ↑ "Tomic tempers Kokkinakis threat". Brisbane International. 7 January 2015. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  17. ↑ "Thanasi Kokkinakis amongst Australian Open wildcard recipients". The Guardian. 10 January 2015. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  18. ↑ "Australian Open 2015 draw: Good news for local hopes". Sydney Morning Herald. 16 January 2015. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  19. ↑ "Nick Kyrgios, Thanasi Kokkinakis, Jordan Thompson in Australian Davis Cup squad to play France". ABC Australia. 21 January 2014. Retrieved 8 February 2014.

External links