© Getty Images Sport – Darrian Traynor
Thanasi Kokkinakis has shared that he and Nick Kyrgios would like to play the Australian Open doubles but it all depends on if Kyrgios is healthy enough. Earlier this year, Kokkinakis and Kyrgios were unable to defend their doubles title at Melbourne Park because Kyrgios was forced to withdraw due to a knee injury.
After missing the first part of the 2023 season due to knee surgery, Kyrgios also played just one tournament in the second part of the season due to a wrist injury. Kyrgios is still recovering from his wrist injury and his participation during the Australian summer is still up in the air.
“We’ll see if he’s healthy. If he’s healthy, we’d love to play. We need the big fella fit and firing. We haven’t played an Aussie Open since playing that doubles and having that atmosphere in that crowd, so we’ll see if he’s healthy,” Kokkinakis told The Age.
Kyrgios on his Australian Open win with Kokkinakis
When Kyrgios and Kokkinakis signed up for the 2022 Australian Open doubles, their initial goal was just to have some fun in front of their home fans. But after they won their opening few matches, their expectations increased and they ended up winning it all.
During this year’s ATP Finals, Kyrgios worked as an analyst for Tennis Channel and there he honestly reflected on his Australian Open with Kokkinakis. “I think we won one match there prior in, like, five years. We had the worst concentration, we couldn’t play together, it was just a train wreck.
He sent me a Whatsapp, said: ‘Do you want to play?’ and I was like: ‘Yeah, whatever, let’s play,’ and then we ended up winning the title. It was one of the most out-of-the-blue things ever, and to do it with him, I wouldn’t have wanted to do it with anyone else,” Kyrgios said on Tennis Channel during the ATP Finals.
