Emotional victory for Kokkinakis, Kyrgios bows out
Thanasi Kokkinakis has turned a 33,000km whirlwind round-the-world visit to his ailing grandmother into an emotional defeat of French veteran Jeremy Chardy at Queen’s Club.
Kokkinakis flew back home to Adelaide to be with his family and grandmother over the weekend before returning to London on Monday ahead of Tuesday’s clash.
“I felt like I was travelling a lot more than I was home, which is weird,” he said.
“I spent 30 hours home and back off.
“I’m a little bit tired, but as soon as I got here I had kind of a hit (on Monday) night to get the cobwebs out a little bit.
“I slept long enough. I was ready to go tomorrow or, well, today.”
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He didn’t play like a man who had spent nearly 48 hours on planes in the previous three days, getting stronger as the match went on while he worked into a rhythm.
While his forehand briefly deserted him late in the first set, which he lost in a tiebreak, Kokkinakis regained his composure, while the more experienced Chardy became vocal with the chair umpire and chastised himself as the double faults mounted.
Kokkinakis, too, seemed miffed at some of his early play, quietly cursing at his miscued forehands while looking at his racquet in the hope it might accept some of the blame.
But it was easy to put into perspective for the world No.69.
“(My grandmother is) struggling but she’s all right,” he said.
“She’s old. It happens.”
Despite carrying heavy legs into the clash, he said it was a decision he would make ten times over.
“Yeah, I’m definitely happy with the decision I made,” he said.
“It was good to be home. It was definitely good to go home and seeing family.
“(But it was) kind of good that I could kind of play the match and try and put it to the side.”
Kyrgios ‘drained’ after loss
A mentally weary Nick Kyrgios says he will switch off tennis completely ahead of Wimbledon after admitting he “didn’t want to be out there” for his first-round loss to Stan Wawrinka at the Queen’s Club.
Kyrgios never got going against the French Open champion, going down 6-3 6-4 before conceding he felt uncomfortable the whole time during the 49-minute flame out.
Kyrgios says he didn’t want to be on the court. Photo: Getty
The 20-year-old, who struggled with an elbow injury in the lead-up to the French Open, was also noticeably under the weather in Tuesday’s loss, coughing and spluttering in the heat.
“I just felt uncomfortable the whole time, really. I’m not feeling great,” Kyrgios said.
“I almost found it difficult to get myself engaged and didn’t want to be there.”
When asked if it was just the flu or whether it was a bigger-picture issue, Kyrgios replied: “I think it’s a bit of both. I have been battling mentally a bit.”
Kyrgios has already flown over a friend, while his father, Giorgos, will arrive next week as he attempts to get his head straight before Wimbledon, admitting he has no immediate plans to schedule any exhibition matches next week.
“It’s tough at the moment, like I say,” he said.
“(I’m going to) not think about tennis, turn off all tennis channels, delete my ATP app, and just not think about tennis for a week or so.”
Wawrinka suggested the youngster was playing mind games with the media, saying there was no way he would shut out tennis in the fortnight before a grand slam.
“I think he’s saying a lot of things every day, so it’s quite interesting for journalists to hear that,” Wawrinka said with a smile.
“I’m sure he’s not going to switch off. I’m sure he will be ready for Wimbledon, because if he switches off two weeks of tennis, then he can go home and not play Wimbledon.
“It’s coming up, so you need to be ready if you want to play well.
“When I read his interview, it’s always funny.
“When I read before the match he was ready, excited for the challenge, and now he was sick.
“So I’m just saying he’s saying a lot of things, and I think it’s always interesting as a player to read what he’s saying and how his mind working.”
When asked if he thought Kyrgios was playing games with the media, Wawrinka had only praise.
“I don’t know. I think he’s enjoying his time. He’s a really talented player,” he said.
“He is the future of tennis.”