Thanasi Kokkinakis thinks there is nothing surprising in the fact that Novak Djokovic is receiving major support in Adelaide as he believes the Serb will “end up being the best-ever to do it.” Kokkinakis, who was born in Adelaide, 12 months ago captured his first ATP title at the Adelaide International.
Now, 26-year-old Kokkinakis is aiming to defend his title but it is easier said than done as the Adelaide player field features big-time players such as Djokovic, Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Holger Rune.
Djokovic’s Adelaide debut has drawn lots of interest and the city appears to be extremely excited over the Serb’s participation at the tournament. Kokkinakis, who is an absolute fan favorite in Adelaide, admits he expects it to be “the Djokovic show” at the Adelaide International.
Kokkinakis: It’s going to be the Djokovic show
“And for good reason. I mean, stats-wise and everything like that, he’ll probably end up being the best-ever to do it, at least in the short-term, anyway. It’s no surprise he’s got crazy fans.
The Serbs love it, and get behind him. He’s got massive support down under, with how well he’s done in Australia as well, at [the] Aussie Open, but everywhere you look, there’s a top-10 guy hitting with a top-10 guy.
It’s almost like Medvedev is flying under the radar, or Holger, who just won Paris Masters, is flying a bit under the radar. Felix had a massive back-end of last year. It’s obviously going to be the Djokovic show, but there are a lot of good players who are more than capable of winning this title,” Kokkinakis said, per The Age.
Kokkinakis has been drawn to face Maxime Cressy in the Adelaide first round. On the other side, Djokovic is facing Constant Lestienne in his Adelaide opener. It remains to be seen if we will see a Djokovic and Kokkinakis match in Adelaide.
