[ad_1]
Through
Stefanos Tsitsipas lavished praise on his return Thanasi Kokkinakis after being pushed to five sets by the Australian in a second-round thriller in the open from Australia.
Kokkinakis played in a way that belied his current world ranking of 267, pushing Tsitsipas to his limits before the Greek superstar pulled out a 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 6-1 6-7 (5- 7) 6- 4 victory at the Rod Laver Arena.
In a tense finish, Kokkinakis had to complain about a few thoughtless punches in Tsitsipas’ last service game which ultimately turned out to be fatal.
As Tsitsipas led 5-4 in the final set, Kokkinakis opened up by taking a 30-15 lead as the No.5 seed hit his next first serve into the net.
However, the Australian was unable to capitalize on two consecutive second serves from Tsitsipas, who let out a primary roar after securing a ticket to the third round.
After the game, the 22-year-old praised the beaten Australian, expressing his excitement at seeing the often-injured star on the pitch again.
“Thanasi is a great competitor and a great fighter. It was very difficult to face him today,” Tsitsipas said.
“He’s a talent and he has huge potential, I’m sure he knows that himself, he just needs to take advantage of it and get the most out of his career. He’s a great server and has all the weapons on the baseline.
“Thanasi hasn’t been able to play all these years because of his injuries and that was a real shame because we were missing someone on the tour.
“I am very happy to see him again and to compete at the highest level and we are a generation of great players.”
Entering the game on a wave of emotion following his first-round victory, Kokkinakis made an impressive start in his first outing at Rod Laver Arena since his second career Grand Slam game in 2014.
Down 5-4 and serving to stay in the set, Kokkinakis saved two set points from Tsitsipas before forcing the tiebreaker.
In the tiebreaker, the Australian managed to take the late advantage before an unforced error from the Greek superstar gave him the first set.
After Tsitsipas equalized in the second set, Kokkinakis must have regretted cruel luck at the start of what turned out to be a nightmare in the third set.
40-love down and already in a first hole, the Aussie looked like he had found a way back into the game when he persuaded a Tsitsipas groundstroke that landed deep in the line background.
Kokkinakis questions call
According to the official rules, when a spare ball falls on the field during play, it is called a let and the point is replayed.
However, this is only when the point is live. By the time Kokkinakis’ ball fell from his pocket, Tsitsipas’s had already played his shot with the ball which was obviously landing well deep in the baseline.
The referee called the point to replay at a crucial crossroads when Kokkinakis could have ended up in the set – and the Aussie let the official know exactly how he felt.
“It had no interference in the game, no one touched the ball,” Kokkinakis said as he approached the referee’s chair.
But when the ball landed, Kokkinakis ‘spare tennis ball slipped out of his pocket and landed on the court at the exact same moment that Tsitsipas’ shot fell deep.
The Australian looked almost done when he got a 6-1 roll in the third, but refused to roll as he stuck with the Greek star and won the fourth set in a tie-break.
Tsitsipas, meanwhile, received a massive blow and looked shaken when he coughed the fourth set in a tie-break.
“Tsitsipas well he’s a bit lost, he lost sight of the score here, he left to change ends,” Sam Groth said in a comment when the Greek star oddly tried to change the ending at the wrong time. .
Nick Kyrgios also made an appearance at the arena to cheer on his good friend and doubles partner.
[ad_2]
