There’s just something about Thanasi Kokkinakis in Australia, especially his Adelaide home city, that brings out the electricity and justifies why there has always been optimism about his top-30 potential even now at age 28. He acknowledged as much after a thrilling three-hour victory over the tournament’s eight seed in Tomas Martin Etcheverry (7-5, 4-6, 7-6).
Jabeur’s joie de vivre is back?
Although she would lose 24 hours later to Yulia Putintseva, three-time Major runner-up Ons Jabeur played with the joie de vivre everyone has become accustomed to seeing from her, sweeping beautiful backhand slices and forehand winners en route to a hard-fought straight-sets win over Danielle Collins (7-6, 6-2) after a quarterfinal defeat by Mirra Andreeva in Brisbane the week prior.
Since reaching the French Open semifinals last June, it’s been a patchy few months for Andreeva. She won a WTA250 event in Iasi, Romania the following month and was a deciding set tiebreak away from winning Olympic doubles gold alongside Diana Shnaider on Parisian clay.
Yet she coughed up a commanding lead to Iga Swiatek in Cincinnati later that month, lost early by Ashlyn Krueger at Flushing Meadows and had another three-set loss vs. Qinwen Zheng in Beijing. A painful WTA500 final defeat by friend-and-compatriot Daria Kasatkina would’ve softened the blow after losing to older sister Erika in Wuhan 11 days before, but the rollercoaster ride she’s enduring hasn’t been smooth.
That sentiment is shared by Jabeur, 13 years her senior and with considerably less matches (16 compared to 29) since a three-set quarterfinal defeat by Coco Gauff in Paris last summer. Known as a jovial character, that happiness hasn’t translated on court and her temperament has been tested as the Tunisian’s form dwindled – particularly in high-pressure spots where clarity of shot selection helps her thrive.
After the Putintseva victory, she spoke about how her forehand groundstroke had got her out of trouble and that she’d been practicing gratitude: “My forehand saved me a lot. I’ve been injured [ongoing shoulder injury] for a couple months so not expecting to play many matches, feel like physically and mentally I was tired from playing [many] tournaments years in a row, family time helped a lot, know where I am and get out of a routine packing bags to play — charity work made me grateful to live this life, hope to continue doing this.”
Kokkinakis keeps the fire burning
Kokkinakis acknowledged there’s a fine line to manage as far as peaking too quickly is concerned, though importantly he held firm under duress – not always the case against tough opposition – in a three-set win over Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka.
“You never want to play too well because something can go wrong and it did, he’s been a hell of a player for many years now and I knew it’d be tough,” the 28-year-old said after reeling off 41 winners (15 aces) against the 29-year-old, aware his first serve was crucial in providing him free points to escape tricky moments.
The undersized Japanese couldn’t match that weapon from the back of the court during a high-quality contest going the distance with momentum swings and ever-present tension, one Kokkinakis ultimately edged 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
That run continued the following day: going the distance during a three-hour thriller vs. Tomas Martin Etcheverry, battling calf and shoulder complaints in consecutive matches to topple top-50 opposition as the crowd hit every ball with him.
“It’s unbelievable, unreal, don’t love playing anywhere but here so you guys are incredible, thank you. Tomas is a hell of a player, I was lucky to sneak the first set, should’ve won the second, knew it would be a dogfight, had to stay calm and get out of some sticky situations. You guys [the fans] were humongous, don’t know if I would have been able to do it without that.”
He didn’t sound too pleased to be facing Sebastian Korda next, given their Washington matchup last August went the American’s way.
“I had match points against him, he shanked a forehand that caught the line before winning the match and tournament so a few [psychological] demons, we’ll see,” he admitted during his on-court interview, casting doubt over whether he’ll risk overplaying just four days before the Australian Open singles draw begins.
Picture source: Getty Images
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