Local favourite Thanasi Kokkinakis is hoping to renew his brilliant form in his hometown and tune up for the Australian Open tonight in the Adelaide International. Follow live below!
The world No.68’s sole career ATP-level title was won in Adelaide in 2022, and he made a brilliant run to the semi-finals last year including a win over top-five fixture Andrey Rublev.
But after a difficult 2023 campaign, where his best result came on clay as he made the third round at Roland Garros, the former Australian Open doubles champion looks to get back on track against Serbia’s world No.52 Dusan Lajovic on Monday night.
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Kokkinakis suffered an ankle injury during a Challenger-level event in Sydney last November.
“I was a little bit underdone, sort of got injured a little bit end of last year before Davis Cup, so I wasn’t able to play there,” he said this week.
“I’m looking at this to try and kind of kick start my year and this week feels like my starting point where I’m going to feel physically and mentally ready to go.
“I am going to give everything I have here and hopefully get a few matches and see how we do before the Aussie Open.
“I feel good. I had a few training days. I just want to play a few more matches kind of to see where I’m at. I had a very short pre-season, sort of rehabbing after Davis Cup and then trying to get ready for the first couple of tournaments of the year. I knew I wasn’t going to be at 100 percent the last couple of weeks, but now I think I’ve got no restrictions and I feel great.”
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Kokkinakis is one of seven Aussies in the ATP 250 event draw, along with Alex Bolt, James McCabe, Chris O’Connell, Adam Walton, Rinky Hijikata (who beat Kokkinakis last week in Brisbane) and Jordan Thompson, who upset Rafael Nadal on Friday.
Alexei Popyrin and, on the women’s side, Ajla Tomljanovic withdrew over the past 24 hours.
Kokkinakis, Popyrin, Thompson, O’Connell, Hijikata, plus Aleksandar Vukic and Max Purcell (both playing in Auckland this week) all earned main draw entries into the Australian Open via their rankings while McCabe, Waltson, Jason Kubler, Marc Polmans and James Duckworth were given wildcards.
Follow Thanasi Kokkinakis vs Dusan Lajovic in our live blog!
Meanwhile former French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova and fifth seed Beatriz Haddad Maia were high-profile casualties on day one of the ATP-WTA Adelaide International on Monday, both crashing out to qualifiers.
Czech fourth seed Krejcikova was beaten by Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 while Brazil’s Haddad Maia met the same fate at the hands of another Russian, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, losing 6-3, 6-4.
“It was a great match, she’s a very good fighter,” the 75th-ranked Kalinskaya said of Krejcikova, who was playing her first match of the season ahead of the Australian Open.
“She made the match very complicated. I’m happy I won, I’m playing better tennis every day.” Kalinskaya, who needed nearly three hours to see off her opponent, now awaits the winner between American Claire Liu and Russian world number 15 Daria Kasatkina.
The 59th-ranked Pavlyuchenkova, who lost to Krejcikova in the 2021 French Open final, advanced with 29 winners, breaking Haddad Maia three times.
“I tried to follow my game plan. She’s a fighter and if you give her a chance to come back, she will,” said Pavlyuchenkova.
She will next play either big-serving Karolina Pliskova or 49th-ranked Katerina Siniakova.
Former world number two Paula Badosa was also defeated on her comeback from injury, beaten 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 by American Bernarda Pera.
Spain’s Badosa missed the second half of 2023 with a stress fracture of the back.
Top seed Elena Rybakina, who beat reigning Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka to win the Brisbane International on Sunday, had a first-round bye.
Her round of 16 opponent will be Cristina Bucsa after the Spaniard defeated Italian Jasmine Paolini 6-3, 6-3.
Rain played havoc at the WTA Hobart International, but top seed Elise Mertens safely went through, overcoming American Danielle Collins 6-2, 6-3.
– with AFP