Drawing on the fighting Spartan spirit represented in images on his shorts, a gutsy Thanasi Kokkinakis has battled through another injury to win his Australian Open first round clash against Russia’s Roman Safiullin.
The Greek-Australian fan favourite came into the tournament under an injury cloud after withdrawing from the Adelaide International with a shoulder complaint and the Brisbane International with a hip injury.
This time Kokkinakis was troubled by a thigh issue which left him barely able to run, but he still managed to win 3-6 6-3 6-3 7-6 (7-5).
While he didn’t think it was anything serious, he revealed after the match that he may need further surgery on his problematic shoulder after the Open.
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“It’s something I’ll have to look at. It’s something I’ve been playing through the last five years,” Kokkinakis said.
“I got unfortunately pretty bad advice five or six years ago. I didn’t listen to my body. I listened to the experts. Put me in a bit of a hole.
“I’ll probably have to look at doing something after Australian Open.”
After losing the first set to world No.63 Safiullin, a former Australian Open boys’ singles champion, Kokkinakis led 5-2 in the second when he called for the physio then left the court for further treatment.
Despite his obvious discomfort, the 28-year-old closed out the second set to level the match, then banked the third to the delight of the Kia Arena crowd.
Regularly wincing in pain in the fourth set, the injury-prone world No.71 showed his grit, saving an incredible 18 break points from 22 through the match.
While the South Australian changed his shirt, he kept his blue shorts, which featured images of Spartan soldiers in a nod to his ancestry.
He said he thought it was a “cool design” and something that would please his history buff dad, but also felt it typified his journey.
“I think it’s kind of shown a little bit in my tennis throughout the years, my story a little bit – like to compete, like to fight,” he said.
“When you’re feeling niggles or stuff that’s not quite feeling 100 per cent, you’ve got to try and compete and bring it out there.”
Kokkinakis dropped his serve to trail 3-4 but then stared down Safiullin, breaking straight back.
The pair continued to go toe to toe, taking the set to a tiebreak, with the big-serving Australian sealing the win after four hours and five minutes on court.
Kokkinakis will face British 15th seed Jack Draper in the second round.
Novak survives wildcard scare
Australian Open king-pin Novak Djokovic has made himself at home on Rod Laver Arena but not before American teenager Nishesh Basavareddy turned up like an unwanted guest.
Djokovic was given an early shock by the 19-year-old wildcard, who was making his grand slam debut, before the 10-time champion settled in for a 4-6 6-3 6-4 6-2 victory.
The super Serb admitted his young rival was the better player in the early exchanges.
“Huge credit to him for stepping out in his debut in a grand slam, first time on a big court, playing the way he did play,” Djokovic said of Basavareddy.
“As far as my performance, I think I didn’t start really well and I was probably a bit too passive from back of the court and he was dictating the play.
“I served well, some shots in the game worked well in certain moments, in certain moments they didn’t.
“It was kind of up and down but I ended the match in a good fashion. I think that it’s important as it counts mentally for me, for the rest of the tournament.”
Most fans at Melbourne Park on Monday night were expecting the world No.7 to romp through the match but the Californian kid decided to do things his way.
Basavareddy broke Djokovic to take a 4-3 lead in the first set, then wrapped it up inside 50 minutes.
The last time Djokovic lost a first set at the Australian Open was in 2006 to Paul Goldstein.
The 37-year-old let out a mighty roar when he finally broke his young rival to take a 5-3 lead in the second set, wresting back control of the match.
“I played a great game, a crucial break, and I started to switch the momentum to my side,” he said.
Djokovic will next face Portuguese qualifier Jaime Faria.
Swiatek powers into second round
World No.2 Swiatek made short work of Czech Katerina Siniakova on John Cain Arena on Monday, advancing 6-3 6-4 in an hour and 21 minutes.
The pair swapped breaks of serve in the first set before Swiatek stuck her nose in front to clinch the opener.
The left-handed Siniakova continued to match it with the five-time grand slam champion in the second set but slipped at 3-all and couldn’t recover.
“It wasn’t an easy first round so I’m happy that I’m through,” Swiatek said in her on-court interview.
“I know her from playing doubles against her so she’s not an easy opponent.
“She was playing really well and I just had to be more proactive when I wanted to and at the end, in the second set, I did that.”
Swiatek pulled out of the tour in September for “personal reasons”.
It was later revealed she had accepted a one-month ban after testing positive for a banned heart drug, which the Pole said came from ingesting a contaminated non-prescription medication.
She will meet Rebecca Sramkova in the second round after the Slovak battled back from a set down to beat American Katie Volynets.
Following her third-round exit at Melbourne Park last year, Swiatek can return to world No.1 if rivals Aryna Sabalenka and Gauff fall in the early stages of the Open.
Reigning French Open champion Gauff earlier continued her recent red-hot run of form, beating fellow American and 2020 Australian Open champ Sofia Kenin 6-3 6-3 to power into the second round.
Gauff was not at her absolute best was still too good for world No.74 Kenin, who is a shadow of the player who won her maiden grand slam title at Melbourne Park in 2020 then reached the final of the French Open later that year.
She had also beaten Gauff in two of their previous three meetings – both at majors – but was unable to match it with the No.3 seed in the key moments.
Gauff, 20, has won her past 10 matches in succession and is riding a 19-2 win-loss run dating back to late September, including title triumphs at the recent United Cup in Sydney – where she beat Swiatek in a spicy decider – the WTA Tour Finals in Saudi Arabia and the China Open.
“It was a tough match for me today,” said Gauff.
“I knew it was going to to be difficult, but I’m happy with how I played.
“I could have dealt with the second serves better, but I could hardly see at one end (due to the sun).”
Gauff mixed 12 aces with nine double faults.
Gauff’s next opponent will be Britain’s Jodie Burrage, who downed French qualifier Leolia Jeanjean 6-2 6-4.
In other round-one action, two-time former champion and 21st seed Victoria Azarenka could not replicate her surprise run to the semi-final in 2023, falling 6-2 7-6 (7-2) to Italian world No.76 Lucia Bronzetti.
American No.12 seed Diana Shnaider ousted Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 and No.28 seed Elina Svitolina from Ukraine downed Romania’s Sorana Cristea 6-4 6-4.
US Open runner-up Jessica Pegula overpowered Australian youngster Maya Joint in straight sets as did 10th seed Danielle Collins in her clash with Ukrainian qualifier Daria Snigur.
Swiss Belinda Bencic, returning after becoming a mum, ousted Latvian 16th seed Jelena Ostapenko 6-3 7-6 (8-6) while 17th seed Marta Kostyuk also advanced, downing Japanese qualifier Nao Hibino in three sets.
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