Thanasi Kokkinakis has survived a tense serve-off with American giant Maxime Cressy – and an early injury scare – to continue his on-court love affair with Adelaide.
The hometown hero has a mighty task to match his heroics from last year, including his maiden ATP Tour title, but made a promising start on Monday night, outlasting Cressy 7-6(7-4), 7-6(9-7) in a two-hour-plus rollercoaster.
Thanasi Kokkinakis celebrates the win.Credit:Getty
Kokkinakis joined fellow Australian Alexei Popyrin in the second round after the latter stunned sixth-ranked Canadian Felix Auger Aliassime 6-4, 7-6(7-5) for a career-best triumph.
“I thought we both served well. I served about as well as I could have – it’s just minor moments against guys like that,” Kokkinakis said.
“He’s serving second serves bigger than his first serve, and sometimes there’s not much you can do.
“You’ve just got to bide your time and, hopefully, he misses a couple, like he did in the end there, but he’s a hell of a player, had a hell of a year, but I’m stoked with that win.”
Maxime Cressy of the USA.Credit:Getty
Even more importantly, Kokkinakis allayed any fears about the right knee problem that saw him take a medical timeout only three games into the contest.
“I don’t know what that was. I just went to serve, and my knee buckled,” he said.
“I don’t know why it happened like four serves in a row. It felt a bit weird, but I took some painkillers, got a bit of treatment, and it got better as I warmed up, so I’m happy it’s nothing too serious.”
They gave up only 10 points between them on serve in a lacklustre opening set, with one of those in the tiebreak handing Kokkinakis a deserved advantage, after his blocked return delivered him a short ball that he pounded past Cressy.
In a surprising turn of events, both players had to stave off break points to start the second set, before Kokkinakis dropped serve in the fifth game as the match suddenly looked headed for a deciding set.
Cressy led 5-3 in the second set but foot faults and double faults cost him dearly on the night, but he still held a set point on serve in a seesawing tiebreaker – but again failed to capitalise.
Kokkinakis had already blown two match points by that stage but made no mistake on his third as he cannoned his 21st ace to seal victory and set up a clash with Jannik Sinner or Kyle Edmund on Wednesday.
“I obviously had an incredible summer last year, starting off in Adelaide and then the doubles [at the Australian Open] was the cherry on top,” he said.
“But forever the Adelaide week will be my top moment, for sure. I’m hoping to just try my arse off, to be honest, every match.
“I can’t guarantee I’ll do [what I did] last year, but [I will] play as hard as I can and then see where it takes me.”
Earlier, Popyrin, ranked as high as No.59 at the start of last year but now languishing at 120, produced a power-packed display to beat Auger Aliassime and claim his first genuine top-10 scalp after a nightmare 2022 season.
It was technically his third top-10 victory, after toppling Stefanos Tsitsipas at the 2021 Paris Masters and Dominic Thiem at the 2019 Australian Open, but both men retired before the finish.
Alexei Popyrin caused a major boilover in Adelaide with a win over Felix Auger Aliassime.Credit:AP
Popyrin wants results like the Auger Aliassime one, where he clubbed 11 aces and rallied from a 1-4 second-set deficit, to become the norm after winning only five of 22 matches in a bitterly disappointing campaign last year.
The 23-year-old has changed coaches twice in as many years and hopes former Belgian player Xavier Malisse, who he started working with in October, will unlock his immense potential.
“It’s a really good win for me, especially coming off last season, where I had only five wins on the circuit. It’s a very important win,” Popyrin said.
“I know I have the level to play against guys like that, and today just proved it, so I’m happy [but] it’s not anything I’m super pumped about.
“It’s something that I fully expect myself to do, to be able to beat these players.”
Popyrin, who had to qualify in Adelaide and received a wildcard into this year’s Australian Open, was an outstanding junior who won the 2017 French Open at that level and emerged at the same time as Alex de Minaur.
But while de Minaur has enjoyed a largely smooth transition to the senior circuit, it has been a bumpier road for Popyrin.
“There are just a few guys who do it perfectly from such a young age,” he said.
“In 2021, everything kind of was great. I was 21, got my first ATP title, felt like I was there, felt like I could go higher.
“I even told my physio at the time that I felt like I could reach the second week of a slam, I could go all the way. That’s the confidence I had.
“Then things took a turn. I hired some people who probably weren’t the best for my game [but] I don’t want to talk about last year anymore. We’re only going to look forward to this year.”
Popyrin will face American Marcos Giron next on Wednesday, with compatriots Chris O’Connell, Jordan Thompson and Jaimee Fourlis all exiting the event.
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