Kokkinakis: “I’m playing my best tennis”
The Australian won a series of close matches in 2024 but is looking to go further in slams next year
Thanasi Kokkinakis, UTS London 2024 – © UTS
Thanasi Kokkinakis will go into 2025 with more belief in his game than ever before.
After years spent piling up heartbreaking defeats, Kokkinakis finally shed his reputation for the near miss in Grand Slams this year, beating two top players at Grand Slams in No 17-ranked Felix Auger-Aliassime at Wimbledon and No 11-ranked Stefanos Tsitsipas at the US Open.
The victories represented a welcome change of pace.
Between 2015 and 2019, the Australian lost all eight of his best of five-set matches; at the Australian Open in 2023, he squandered a two-sets-to-love and a break lead to lose to Andy Murray, who was in final throes, carrying a metal hip. Kokkinakis was thought of by many as a talented player who couldn’t get the job done.
In 2024, that all changed. Starting at the Australian Open, he won four of his five matches that went the distance in slams, including the aforementioned win over former top-10 player Felix Auger Aliassime at Wimbledon. To add to that, he then beat Tsitsipas at the US Open, finally ridding himself of his nearly-man tab.
“It’s been good, definitely high moments,” Kokkinakis told Tennis Majors at the UTS Grand Final in London, where he will begin his quest for the title – and the Zeus Trophy – on Friday.
“Ranking aside, I’m not at my career high (at No 77, he’s 12 spots short of his best) but I feel like this is the best tennis I’ve played,” he said. “I think, with the quality of players I’ve beaten and how consistent I’ve been….I’ve had good wins…”
“I want to focus a bit more on ranking”
A good junior, Kokkinakis promised much as a young player but injuries checked his progress. Even this year, when he played consistently well, he had problems, injuring his knee at Queen’s Club and again at Wimbledon in the summer.
Next year, he says, the goal is to string tournaments together.
“For me, it’s always been tricky playing a bunch of tournaments.” he said. “My goal next year is to try and focus a little bit more on ranking. Obviously, I want to be healthy and happy, and that’s the main thing to get me through the season.
“But I’ve had some big wins and slams, it was my best Grand Slam year with a lot of opportunities to kind of progress further, some things didn’t quite work out. I feel like it’s been a good year and something to build on for next year.”
“I’ve always had belief in myself”
There’s nothing like winning tight matches, or beating top players to instil confidence in a player. Kokkinakis never lacked confidence, but seeing the results go his way has given him a huge boost as he plans the next 12 months.
“I have always had the belief in myself,” he said. “My belief or my hope now comes from not thinking I can just beat these players once, but believing I can be consistent, hoping my body backs up to play these long matches over five sets, and that’s the next step.
“I know I can cause an upset and have have big wins when my level is there, but it’s just about being consistent and really trying to push through draws where the ranking jumps come, and that’s where the confidence comes.”
