TENNIS AUSTRALIAN OPEN – 19th of January 2015. T.Kokkinakis d. E. Gulbis 5-7, 6-0, 1-6, 7-6, 8-6. An interview with Thanasi Kokkinakis
Q. How do you feel? Mixture of delight and exhaustion, I’m sure.
THANASI KOKKINAKIS: Yeah, a bit of both. Physically I feel pretty good. A lot better than I did last year. Obviously it wasn’t as hot. Played longer against maybe a more experienced opponents. Really happy with how I felt physically. Yeah, I was thrilled with that win. Best win of my career. Had one last week or two weeks ago in Brisbane. And followed it up with a more important win today. I’m happy with how I played today.
Q. Was there a moment early in the fourth set when you thought it was going to be too hard?
THANASI KOKKINAKIS: A little bit. I lost my form. I played a really good second set and got on top of him. I knew early games in the third set were important. I didn’t get them and then he ran away with that set. Again, early games in these matches are huge. But I didn’t do a good job of that. So he was up in the fourth I think 2-Love, but I kept making him play balls. He gave me a couple balls I think when I needed them. That gave me a spark again, and the crowd was unbelievable the whole night. They got me through again.
Q. How did you keep just finding a way? You kept finding ways in the big points.
THANASI KOKKINAKIS: Big serves when I needed to. On the match points, I just trusted my weapons, what I work on every day, what my favorite shots are. I went for a few forehands. Maybe they were a bit lucky, but I would like to think skill. A bit of both. But I needed them and trusted them. There’s no point shying away and pushing, because these good players are going to hit a winner past you anyway.
Q. How important was the time in Dubai practicing with Federer and the fitness side of things?
THANASI KOKKINAKIS: It’s very important. Did a lot of training, a lot of hitting there. It was just two weeks there. I did two weeks in Adelaide, a couple weeks in Melbourne. Just the whole base was big for me. I did a lot more running. I knew what I needed to do to play five-set tennis. Went through it last year; wasn’t quite fit enough; found a way to win my first round. But this year I felt physically good, so I’m happy with how my body’s holding up.
Q. Can you talk about the challenge on the serve? Were you saying because it was out you didn’t make a genuine attempt to serve it back?
THANASI KOKKINAKIS: I definitely tried to hit it in, but I just hit it on the frame and it went into my side of the court. I probably wouldn’t have won the point or made the return, but I just thought the call came and then he called it as it bounced and then I hit it. It was a complete miss-hit. I’m not going to avoid that. I just thought if you got a racquet on it replay the point, but the referee didn’t think it came before contact.
Q. What kind of thoughts went through your mind when you challenged on the fifth set, the breakpoint, the ball barely caught the line?
THANASI KOKKINAKIS: When I hit it I thought it was good, and then he challenged. I was like, Oh, no. Maybe it’s out. They were both putting their fingers up. I was like pretty much really hope this is in, because if not I’m struggling. Didn’t break his serve. One breakpoint. I think he aced me on it. I think I swung and I completely miss-hit it. I really needed that one to go in, and I’m thanking some people for that one.
Q. You had some flashy clothes to match the flashy plays today. Were you inspired at all by Andre Agassi with that outfit?
THANASI KOKKINAKIS: I don’t know. You’ll have to ask Nike. They gave me that package. They were like, We only give this to a few. If you’re up for it, wear it. I was like, Yeah, whatever, I’ll do it. I wore the stripes last year, but that was nothing compared to what I wore this year. So I was out there, and I was like surely in this outfit I’ve got to get the win.
Q. Were the shorts comfortable or not?
THANASI KOKKINAKIS: It was a bit annoying. I saw it dangling at the bottom there, so I tried to flick it over. No, that felt fine. I prefer shorter shorts. It makes me run easier.
Q. It will probably be on the front pages of the newspapers. Or you don’t care about it?
THANASI KOKKINAKIS: It was exciting. I know it was a good win. There’s more to come. I don’t want to win just one round. Obviously it was my best win yet. I’ll enjoy it for the rest of the night, but tomorrow I’ll need to get prepared for the next match two days away against Sam.
Q. Are you going to have a quiet word to Nick about trying to upstage your match?
THANASI KOKKINAKIS: I saw him in the changing rooms. We congratulated each other. It’s a good win for both of us. Hopefully we can go further in the draw.
