Thanasi
Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios have had
their profiles multiply in size over the past two summers: following Lleyton
Hewitt’s retirement announcement, they are alongside Bernard Tomic the great
hopes of Australian men’s tennis.
It
brings both encouragement and a measure of expectation.
They’re
all young — 19, 20 and 23 respectively — and are the mainstays of each summer’s
tennis coverage. Adelaide’s Kokkinakis will be one of the drawcards in
January’s World Tennis Challenge at Memorial Drive.
But
if you thought the first two — also referred to as the “Special Ks” — were big
in Australia, you should see how the Greek react to their rise through the
tennis ranks.
Both
are referred to as “expats” or “Greek-origin” players by the Greek press and
Kokkinakis got a taste first hand of the support they have garnered over the
past couple of years.
Kokkinakis,
who has a raft of relatives still living in Greece, agreed in September this
year to do a special with Greek television channel OTE Sport. He was floored by
the response.
The
television station had organised a competition in which the winning children
would win a place in a tennis clinic he hosted and get to watch an exhibition
match between Kokkinakis and rising Greek player Stefan Tsitsipis.
The
crowds and enthusiasm for the event was like nothing he had seen, and what he
thought would be a leisurely afternoon, much like clinics he has helped out at
in Australia, this was a full-blown spectacle. He was still mingling with fans and
journalists by midnight.
It
warmed Kokkinakis, thinking that his appearance could lift the spirits of
people in a country that has had it tough over recent year amid a financial
crisis.
And
as much as he has a full-blown commitment to the Australian Davis Cup team and
grew up in Adelaide, he is fiercely proud of his Greek-Australian heritage.
His
favourite food is Greek, and he loves spending time with Cypriot mate Marcos
Baghdatis, with whom he is on a constant search for the best Greek restaurants
in Adelaide, Melbourne and whatever other city they might play in at the same
time.
Kokkinakis’s
Greek is better than fair, having gone to Greek school through childhood and
keeping in touch with family over there.
But
he concedes the attention — both from Greek and Australian crowds — comes at a
time when he will be challenged more than ever before.
“The
second year (as a regular main draw player) is tough because players are
starting to work out how you play,” Kokkinakis said. “They work out your game
so it becomes more difficult.
“When
you’re new, they haven’t seen you before so they might be a bit surprised. Now
they know what they’re seeing so that means I’ve got to work on all aspects of
my game.
“I
need to have no weaknesses so they don’t know where to hit the ball. I need to
close my weaknesses ... make them rock tight.
“It’s
been a good year for me, breaking into the top 100 and having good results at
the slams as well. It was a good stepping stone and I achieved what I wanted
to.
“Now
I’ve just got to keep building and try to raise my ranking next year.
“It
(the top 100 ranking) is kind of the staple of professional tennis. When you’re
in the top 100, you’re among the elite.
“But
you have to work from there. You can’t be happy or satisfied, and I’m not.”
It
has been a significant rise from Kokkinakis this year.
He’s
no longer on the fringe, where he had to fight for every main draw appearance
with gruelling qualifying matches.
But
as he looks back on his early days on the senior tour, he is grateful for the
toil that was asked of him to graduate from no-name to Special K.
“They
(the qualifying days) made me match tough; I had to grind out a lot of
matches,” Kokkinakis said. “There were a lot of matches that didn’t mean
anything back then, but now when you look back you see how good they were for
you.
“First
round of qualifying, you don’t get any money. But those matches created a
winning feeling, and that can be contagious. You want more of it and you start
to do more for it.”
As
interest in tennis simmers to the surface, Nick Kyrgios — the other Greek
crisis — is never far from the conversation.
He
dragged Kokkinakis into one of his controversies, when he suggested Kokkinakis
had been friendly with Stan Wawrinka’s girlfriend.
Kokkinakis
wasn’t overly happy about being cast in the drama, and made it clear to Kyrgios
to keep him out of Kyrgios’s outbursts from here on.
But
he also defended his mate, and said some of the calls — such as that from John
McEnroe saying he would be happy to coach him — seemed far-fetched.
“A
lot of people have said things about him but he’s not going to change,”
Kokkinakis said. “He is what he is. You can try to tone him down a little bit,
but he actually plays his best tennis when he’s fired up.
“That’s
the catch-22: you want to take away some of the stuff he does and makes him
entertaining, but if you do that maybe he doesn’t play as well.
“It’s
tough; everybody thinks they can help everyone. If McEnroe coached Nick it
would be a bit weird, I think, because if Nick gets angry and gets in trouble
for it, how can McEnroe get angry at him?”
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