MELBOURNE, Australia — Thanasi Kokkinakis has revealed further details on the heated exchange which took place between doubles teammate Nick Kyrgios and top ranked Croatian doubles pair Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic on Friday afternoon.
Kokkinakis and Kyrgios upset the men’s No. 1 seeds in the second round and it was later revealed that a fight almost broke out in the locker room shortly after the match.
Just letting you know after yesterday’s chop fest in doubles my opponents coach and trainer proceeded to threaten to fight in the players gym 🥱🥶 tennis is a soft soft sport @TKokkinakis all because I moved and hit them with a tennis ball 😂😂
— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) January 21, 2022
Following their win over 15th seeds Ariel Behar and Gonzalo Escobar on Sunday, which saw the popular Australian duo advance to the quarterfinals, Kokkinakis shed some light on what transpired.
“It was pretty funny; I’m not going to lie,” Kokkinakis said. “Me and Nick were trying to be professionals, so we were in the gym after the match for one of the first times ever. I’m going to be honest, it was Pavic’s fitness trainer who came up and smashed a foam roller against the pole as hard as he can. I thought he was joking and I wasn’t sure if he was about to berate his players.
“He then came up to Nick and said we were being disrespectful and that we were showboating. Nick hit the opponent with a ball, but that’s normal [in doubles].
“At the end of the day they were a bit salty they lost. They’ve won their fair share of tournaments [and] I’m sure if we had played away in Croatia it would have been the same.”
Kyrgios then added: “enjoy your flight home.”
Kyrgios and Kokkinakis, who have both been knocked out of the singles draw, are enjoying their best ever doubles run together at a major and will face sixth seeds Tim Puetz and Michael Venus next for a place in the semifinals.
“Having that crowd support, it feels like a party atmosphere out there,” Kokkinakis said. “We definitely love it and we wouldn’t want it any other way. We love playing the Australian Open.”