Greek Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis fronted the media after winning his round one match on Wednesday night, more than 24 hours after he first took to the court, thanks to the rain.
Thanasi Kokkinakis was left flabbergasted after a reporter mistakenly called him Nick Kyrgios in a press conference.
The reporter attempted to continue with his question, referring again to Kokkinakis as 'Kyrgios', but Kokkinakis stopped him once more.
“Nick is out, so you are the favourite for the Greek Aussies,” the reporter resumed.
“I hope so, there’s only one left (in the tournament),” Kokkinakis quipped.
The reporter’s question related to the support of Kokkinakis’ by the Greek Australian fans, and if he had a message for them.
“Yeah, I mean, you should ask Nick,” the 26-year-old teased again before answering the question seriously.
“Nah, nah, I’m happy. Efharisto [means 'thank you' in Greek]. That’s all I can say really. Thank you for coming out and supporting.
“I love the Greek support here. It’s good, I get the best of both worlds being in Australia. A lot of Greek population, especially in Melbourne so I’m super happy when they come out and support me.
“Aussies, Greeks, anyone else, if they want to support me, I’m all for it. It’s great having their support, and hopefully I can keep riding the wave.”
It was a special day for Greek Australians as it was also Thanasis' name day, and they could follow the both the Greek-born as well as the Greek Australian players.
Fourlis, Sakkari, Tsitispas, Kokkianis, and Kyrgios are loved equally by both Greeks and Greeks Australians, as well as Aussies alike.
Update
Andy Murray and Thanasi Kokkinakis played deep into the night at the Australian Open, facing down exhaustion and each other for five hours and 45 minutes in a second-round match until Murray emerged with a 4-6, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (5), 6-3, 7-5 victory that ended at 4.05am.
They began playing on Thursday and finished on Friday at Margaret Court Arena in the chill of a temperature that dipped below 15 degrees Celsius and before hundreds of enthusiastic spectators.
