Thanasi Kokkinakis has praised Carlos Alcaraz ahead of their Indian Wells second round clash.
The Australian came through qualifying and earned a second round clash with Carlos Alcaraz after beating American wildcard Brandon Holt in his opening round contest.
Kokkinakis had a great start to the season in Australia where he tested Andy Murray to a five hour battle in one of the most memorable matches of the season.
In an interview Kokkinakis recalled the match with Murray and described how much he learned from the experience, “Although it was a heartbreaking match to be honest and I had it in the bag a few times, as distraught as I was after the match, I actually really enjoyed it,” Kokkinakis told Eurosport.
“I had a lot of fun out there. One of the only times I can say after a big loss, especially one where I was on the front foot the whole time, that I enjoyed it. I can look back at the summer I had and the level of tennis when I was playing at my best and try to take the positives away from that.
“I’ve gone through worse stuff than losing a tennis match from being in a winning position. In the scheme of things it hurts for a little bit, but I had a lot of good feedback, a lot of people came up to me.
“Some idiots came up to me saying ‘what happened?’. Not what I really wanted to talk about after, but for the most time it was encouraging signs.”
It was a performance that Kokkinakis will hope to use as a platform for bigger things as he looks to get his ranking up.
Currently Kokkinakis is 94 in the world but the Australian will look to get that ranking up higher as he looks to enter some of the biggest tournaments in the world more consistently.
Before thinking about the long-term, Kokkinakis will have to think about the short-term as he takes on Carlos Alcaraz in his second round match at Indian Wells.
Ahead of the contest Kokkinakis praised the Spaniard who has already been world number one and won the US Open last year, “It’s not just that he’s got no weaknesses, but he just plays with great energy,” Kokkinakis admitted.
“He plays tennis the right way. He’s always up and about, he’s always smiling. I think the crowd loves watching him because his energy is almost contagious. He’s one of my favourite players to watch. Whenever he’s playing, I try to tune in if I’ve got time.
“I just like the way he plays. He’s got good firepower, he’s lightning quick, he’s got good hands. I saw it a few years ago just watching some highlights of him. It’s so hard to eclipse what those legends have done in our sports with how many Slams they’ve won, but he’s definitely capable and I think he’s got a shot if he stays healthy for sure.”
Alcaraz and Kokkinakis will do battle last on Stadium One from about 03:30 GMT.
