Thanasi Kokkinakis stands a good chance of progressing through to the fourth round at the Roland-Garros, according to tennis legend Wally Masur.
The underdog beat Stan Wawrinka in the second round in a gruelling 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6, 6-3 affair against the Swiss star and it’s that performance that has Masur reasonably optimistic.
Kokkinakis will face Russia’s world No.11 Karen Khachanov at 7pm (AEST) on Friday night in a do-or-die match for the Australian.
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He remains the last man standing after Alex de Minaur lost 6-3, 7-6, 6-3 to Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina and Max Purcell went down 4-6, 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 to Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka.
Speaking on Stan Sport’s Grand Slam Daily, Masur said tactics used on Wawrinka can be effectively applied to the forthcoming match-up with Khachanov.
“He’s got to win the arm wrestle,” said Masur.
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“Both players have got plenty of firepower and there’ll be winners, there’ll be aces.
“It’s the three-quarter rallies, and that’s where Thanasi beat Wawrinka, where he forced him into error – and that’s the situation again Khachanov.
Kokkinakis outlasts Wawrinka in Paris
“He’s got to win his share of points where it’s not decided by a winner or error but you force your opponent into error.”
Masur does wonder whether Kokkinakis will have the stamina.
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His win over Wawrinka took more than four hours, and having not gone further than the third round at the French Open before it does raise an important question.
“The only little concern I have over Thanasi is the length of match, dealing with Stan’s firepower for over four hours – is there any lactic acid? Does the shoulder have pop? We’ll see how he backs up 48 hours later,” reasoned Masur.
“The Russian has got a great mind. He’s really strong, he’s really consistent in his attitude throughout matches,” he added.
“Big backhand, nothing is going to go wrong there. He’s not afraid to come forward.
“Bit of funk on the forehand. He actually takes the racquet back and then the racquet head trails and then he catches back up.
“I think Thanasi just has to focus. I’m not saying Khachanov is one-dimensional, you know what you’re going to get. You just have to be good enough to beat him and we’ll find out if Thanasi has got the game.”
Kokkinakis and Khachanov have only faced each other once prior to Friday’s contest.
That saw the Russian prevail in the 2018 ATP Masters 1000 Monte Carlo in Monaco, 7-5, 6-4.
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