Adelaide’s Thanasi Kokkinakis seeks out Andre Agassi’s mentor for trial work
LEGENDARY fitness coach Gil Reyes has been credited for turning around the career of tennis great Andre Agassi — now his eye has turned to South Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis.
TOP SA tennis player Thanasi Kokkinakis has begun working with Andre Agassi’s old fitness coach Gil Reyes in Las Vegas on a trial basis as he seeks to return to the top 100 players in the world.
Kokkinakis, 22, has had a rough run with injuries that kept him out of the game for the bulk of two years after breaking into the top 100 with a career-high ranking of 69 in 2015.
Now at 192, there have been hints this year that he is about to return to his best, with a win against Swiss great Roger Federer at the Miami Open and collecting his first trophy for years in a challenger event in the US last month.
He is through to the second round of a challenger in Las Vegas this week and has made it a priority to get as many matches under his best as possible before the Australian summer.
It is understood Kokkinakis was encouraged to seek out Reyes by fellow South Australian Darren Cahill, who worked closely with Reyes when he served as Agassi’s coach.
Kokkinakis was upbeat after he won the challenger in Aptos, California.
“I obviously reached my career-high (ATP Ranking) in 2015, but I feel I’m a much better player now than I was back then,” he said. “I’ve improved a lot of things and I haven’t always had the opportunity to show it.
“I’ve shown that when I’m able to play a few in a row, I’ve had good results.”
Injuries have continued to plague Kokkinakis, the last of which have included a constant elbow niggle and a side strain that made his withdraw from one challenger event in Canada.
It is why Reyes, who Kokkinakis says “builds beasts”, could be an important change.
There is also the prospect of spending some time with Agassi, one of the game’s greats who collected eight grand slams and reached the world No. 1 ranking in a career that spanned two decades.
Agassi was glowing of Reyes’ contribution in his biography, Open, and also named his and female great Steffi Graf’s son, Jaden Gil, after his close friend.
Since Agassi’s retirement in 2006, Reyes has worked with players such as Fernando Verdasco, Sorana Cîrstea, Sania Mirza and Sam Querrey.
In 2005, Agassi was glowing with praise Reyes: “Gil is the reason why I’ve won more Slams after the age of 29 than I did before,” Agassi said.