Thanasi Kokkinakis makes tennis history in two-day epic at Wimbledon
Thanasi Kokkinakis saved four match points to breathe life into his Wimbledon campaign — and that was just the beginning of a wild match.
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It took two days and five sets but Thanasi Kokkinakis — after surviving four match points — finally made it out of the first round of Wimbledon on day three of the tournament.
The Australian helped set tennis history by becoming the eighth man in this year’s draw to come back from two sets down in a 4-6, 5-7, 7-6 (11/9), 6-4, 6-4 victory against Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime.
It’s the most two sets to love comebacks in the first round at Wimbledon in the Open Era.
Having kept himself alive by surviving four match points in the third set tie-breaker before rain delayed the action on day two, Kokkinakis was a different player on day three to oust the 17th seed.
He will play France’s Lucas Pouille in the second round.
However compatriot Jordan Thompson — another to come back from a two sets deficit in the first round — is out of the tournament after a 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 defeat to USA’s Brandon Nakashima.
Carlos Alcaraz raced into the Wimbledon third round to set up a mouth-watering duel with fellow crowd-pleaser Frances Tiafoe.
Alcaraz defeated Australia’s world number 69 Aleksandar Vukic 7-6 (7/5), 6-2, 6-2 on the back of 42 winners.
The third-seeded Spaniard’s only moments of concern came in the first set when he let slip a 5-2 lead and found himself 5-6 down with Vukic serving for the opener.
However, the three-time major winner steadied the ship to race away to victory against a player who got the better of him in qualifying at the 2020 French Open.
Alcaraz next faces Tiafoe, the American player he defeated in five sets in the semi-finals of the 2022 US Open on his way to his first Grand Slam triumph.
“I’m going for him,” said Alcaraz, who is bidding to become just the sixth man after Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic to win the French Open and Wimbledon titles back to back.
“I’m ready to play a really high level of tennis and hopefully take him.”
Tiafoe made the third round by seeing off Borna Coric in straight sets.
Eccentric Fabio Fognini of Italy needed a clutch of match points to knock out eighth-seeded Casper Ruud 6-4, 7-5, 6-7 (1/7), 6-3.
The 37-year-old Fognini, sporting bleach-blond hair, twice served for the match from 5-2 up in the third set before sealing victory over the three-time Grand Slam runner-up in the fourth set.
“It just shows why I love and hate this sport,” said Fognini.
Daniil Medvedev, the 2021 US Open champion, came back from dropping the first set and facing two set points in the second to see off Alexandre Muller of France 6-7 (3/7), 7-6 (7/4), 6-4, 7-5.
Osaka crashes out in straight sets
Naomi Osaka was sent crashing out of Wimbledon in the second round on Wednesday by America’s Emma Navarro, who allowed the Japanese superstar just five games in a one-sided contest.
Osaka, playing her first Wimbledon since 2019, went down 6-4, 6-1 on Centre Court in less than an hour.
The two players were level-pegging at 3-3 in the first set before 17th-ranked Navarro broke to love and went on to take the first set.
Navarro pounced at the start of the second set, breaking twice to race into a 4-0 lead and broke again to seal the match.
Osaka’s win over Diane Parry in the first round was her first at Wimbledon since 2018.
Five years on, the four-time Grand Slam champion, 26, is ranked at 113 having only returned to the tour in January after giving birth to daughter Shai last year.
World number two and US Open champion Coco Gauff cruised into the third round with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Romanian qualifier Anca Todoni.
“I’m happy with the way I played, could have been cleaner on some points,” said Gauff, who broke her 19-year-old opponent five times.
The American, who made her career breakthrough at Wimbledon as a 15-year-old qualifier in 2019, goes on to face British qualifier Sonay Kartal, the world number 298.
Fognini learns to love Wimbledon
Five years after wishing for a “bomb to explode” on the All England Club, fiery Fabio Fognini on Wednesday described the tournament as “the best Grand Slam” after knocking out eighth-ranked Casper Ruud.
At 37, and boasting a striking peroxide blond hairstyle that some online critics have likened to a cross between punk rocker Billy Idol and Bart Simpson, the Italian clinched a 6-4, 7-5, 6-7 (1/7), 6-3 win.
He did it the hard way, needing multiple match points to see off Ruud, a three-time Grand Slam runner-up.
“This is why I love and hate this sport at the same time,” said Fognini, who is playing the tournament for the 14th time but has yet to make the second week.
“But I was really calm. Even if I was losing this crazy third set, I was thinking, ‘OK, I’m two sets to one up. I start again’.
“He’s in the top 10 and I’m 37 (years old) so this is a big present for me.” Fognini is a former world number nine but is now down at 94. He has just six main draw wins all year on the ATP tour and has even drifted down into the second-tier Challenger circuit in an attempt to rediscover some form.
“I still love to play even if the ranking is going down and my age is going up,” said Fognini before attempting to mend fences with the tournament.
In 2019, after playing and losing out on Court 14, he was overheard saying: “It’s fair to play here? Damn English, really. Damned, really. I wish a bomb would explode on this club. A bomb should explode here.” He later apologised for the remarks.
On Wednesday, in front of a packed if cold Court Two crowd, Fognini confessed to a change of heart.
“It’s the best Grand Slam in the world compared to the other three,” he told fans.
“I love the competition. I want to enjoy it as much as possible. Maybe this 14th time will be lucky for me.”
- with AFP
Originally published as Thanasi Kokkinakis makes tennis history in two-day epic at Wimbledon
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