Thanasi Kokkinakis appears to have earned an Australian Open berth after playing amazing tennis to get him into the quarter-finals of the Adelaide International.
Thanasi Kokkinakis has lifted his home city of Adelaide with an amazing come-from-behind triumph over Frances Tiafoe.
The Greek Australian knocked out the tournament’s No.4 seed 3-6 7-5 6-1 in another reminder of his enormous talent.
Kokkinakis won eight of the last nine games and broke five times in the last two sets to wow the adoring locals who stayed past midnight to revel in the moment.
“To play in front of friends and family, and to be playing at home there’s nothing better,” Kokkinakis said on court post-match.
“To rally and play like that, and come back from what looked like it would be an ugly result is a really great feeling.”
The win over the No.4 seed will give Kokkinakis' world ranking, which currently sits at 171, a timely boost.
Kokkinakis will now take on Sweden's world No.94 Mikael Ymer in the quarter-finals, his first appearance in the last-eight of an ATP event since 2019.
Kokinakis considered retirement following a horror string of injuries over the past two years that included shoulder, groin, pectoral and elbow problems and for him, last nights comeback would give the 25 year old some extra confidence.
