Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis overcame veteran Stan Wawrinka and any blow back caused by doubles partner Nick Kyrgios to win through to the third round in Paris with a hard-fought five-set victory, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 6-3.
All the talk leading into match was about the supposed rivalry between both players after Kyrgios once famously taunted Wawrinka during a match in Montreal in 2015, telling the three-time grand slam champion, “Kokkinakis banged your girlfriend”.
Kyrgios even posted about the match up in the lead up describing it as a real “popcorn match”.
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And while the four hour and 38 minute clash itself was an absolute feast for tennis fans, those tuning in on a tabloid level to see if there was any venom between the two players, were left disappointed.
Such was the respect between Wawrinka and Kokkinakis, that both men embraced at the end of the marathon match, with the Aussie offering kind words.
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“Stan is a legend,” said Kokkinakis. “Still is, obviously, but he was a legend out on court today. He was very nice, very respectful. Yeah, hats off to him.
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“The first set and a half he was playing, I think the best tennis he can play. I was just trying to hang in there.
“I lost a match in a grand slam earlier this year against (Andy) Murray from two sets to love [up], I didn’t want to do it against another legend.”
Kokkinakis got off to a sluggish start, losing the first set before hitting back in the second to level the match, which then see-sawed until the final set.
Wawrinka had already been in the wars after overcoming Albert Ramos-Vinolas in five sets and was gifted the only break of the first set with a Kokkinakis double fault on break point at 4-3.
When the Australian went 4-2 down in the second, it looked like it was going to be a short day for the Aussie, but Kokkinakis increased his aggression and made Wawrinka move around the court more and eventually wore him down to take it 7-5.
Kokkinakis looked in control in the fourth but Wawrinka took the set in a tie-breaker before his energy levels seemed to dip as Kokkinakis reeled off four straight games even though Wawrinka rallied with a break and saved five match points. Yet the Aussie broke through with the confidence building win.
“2015 was the last time I won a match at Roland Garros, and I made the third round… I love the energy, I love the atmosphere and we’ll see what happens,” the Australian added.
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