Australian Open doubles: Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis accosted in locker room

They tried to fight Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis in the locker room and now the doubles world No.1’s have suffered a final ‘Special K’ indignity after bowing out of the open.

Nick Kyrgios has had the last laugh after he and doubles partner Thanasi Kokkinakis were accosted in the locker room, telling the No.1 seeds they defeated to “enjoy your flight home”.

Kokkinakis lifted the lid on the ugly confrontation that Tennis Australia is investigating, revealing it was Croatian doubles star Mate Pavic’s fitness trainer who came at the loveable Aussie larrikins in the bowels of Melbourne Park on Friday evening.

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“Mate, it was pretty funny, I’m not going to lie. Me and Nick are trying to be professionals so we went into the gym after our doubles match maybe for one of the first times ever,” Kokkinakis said.

“I’m going to be honest – it was Pavic’s fitness trainer who came up and he smashed a foam roller against a pole as hard as he can and I thought he was kind of joking.

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Nick and Kokki have had the last laugh after the world No.1 doubles seeds tried to fight them.

“I wasn’t sure if he was about to berate his players, and he came up to Nick and said we were being disrespectful.

“Nick hit the opponent with a ball – but that’s normal. These doubles players have got unbelievable hands, so you have to go at them.

“They said we were showboating, but I’m sure if we played away in Croatia it would’ve been the same thing.

“I think they were a bit salty they lost. They’ve won their fair share of tournaments so I thought they’d handle losing a little better than that.

“We’re just trying to entertain the crowd and get our energy up, we didn’t mean anything disrespectful. It was a little bit aggressive on his part though, for sure”

Tennis Australia chief executive Craig Tiley has spoken to both Kyrgios and Kokkinakis about the incident.

“There was a lot of passion and a lot of energy in the stadium and I think that carried over beyond the stadium,” Tiley said.

“I have spoken to Nick and the team and this is not unusual, it’s not uncommon when you have a situation like this and players are beaten and they are expected to win the match and there is so much passion from the fans.

“What’s not unusual and what’s not uncommon is the passion, but certainly there are rules and there is conditions around how you respond at the end of the match.”

Bit salty, fellas? Mate Pavic and Nikola Mektic were not happy after losing to the Special Ks. Picture: Getty Images

‘Mans thought it was UFC’: Kokki and Kyrgios in locker-room blow up

—Rebecca Williams and Joe Barton

A locker room threat “to fight” from the coach and trainer of Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis’ Croatian doubles opponents is being looked at by Australian Open officials, Tennis Australia boss Craig Tiley has confirmed.

After Kyrgios and Kokkinakis’s upset doubles win over top seeds Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic in front of a raucous crowd at Kia Arena, Kyrgios claimed on Twitter the coach and trainer of the Croatian pair has threatened to fight them in the players’ gym.

“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,” Kyrgios wrote on Twitter.

“Tennis is a soft sport @TKokkinakis all because I moved and hit them with a tennis ball.”

Kokkinakis replied:

“(Laughing emojis) that was crazy!! Mans thought it was @ufc.”

Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis get into an argument post-match.

😂😂 that was crazy!! Mans thought it was @ufchttps://t.co/TCYCRCj3E5

— Thanasi Kokkinakis (@TKokkinakis) January 21, 2022

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Addressing the post-match confrontation on Sunday, Tiley said he had spoken to Kyrgios and Kokkinakis about the incident and it was being looked into.

“There was a lot of passion and a lot of energy in the stadium and I think that carried over beyond the stadium,” Tiley said.

“I have spoken to Nick and the team and this is not unusual, it’s not uncommon when you have a situation like this and players are beaten and they are expected to win the match and there is so much passion from the fans.

“Obviously, we’ll look closely at that, we’ll continue to look closely at that.

“As I said, I’ve spoken to Nick and Thanassi.

“What’s not unusual and what’s not uncommon is the passion but certainly there are rules and there is conditions around how you respond at the end of the match.”

Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios ham it up after their win over the doubles No.1 seed. Picture: Getty Images

Tiley said Kyrgios and Kokkinakis, who have both been eliminated from the singles draw, had moved on from the incident.

“They play again tonight or later on this afternoon and I think again we will see Kia Arena filled again with fans that are going to be passionate about watching the Australians hopefully advance deeper into the second week,” Tiley said.

Kyrgios and Kokkinakis won the doubles clash 6-7 6-3 against the Croatian pair who won gold at the Tokyo Olympics last year.

Weighing into the story, Herald Sun columnist Sam Groth said: “Thanasi Kokkinakis messaged me as it was happening. He said ‘I got accosted in the locker room by Pavic trainer’.

“Obviously it’s just a bit of soft, to take it off the court and into the locker room.”

The Special K’s played up, messed around and, of course, played some stupendously good tennis to eliminate a pairing that, last year, won basically everything.

The party atmosphere was in full swing, with one punter turning to face the crowd and knocked back a shoey early in the second set.

Honestly, you wouldn’t have been surprised if Kyrgios and Kokkinakis had joined him in the beer-drinking ritual.

They play doubles for the fun – which isn’t to say they can’t also take it seriously.

The match was not without controversy, however, with Pavic becoming increasingly frustrated as the night wore on and the jeering got louder.

Aa shoey in the crowd will have the tennis purists whining again. Picture: Getty Images

He took the extraordinary step of approaching the chair umpire on a crucial break point and beg for some respect as Kyrgios played up to the crowd.

“This is pissing me off. Don’t let that happen,” Pavic pleaded.

He lost the next point, was broken and quickly shuffled off the court as the Special Ks did their victory lap for the crowd after the stunning 7-6 (10-8) 6-3 upset.

Kyrgios being Kyrgios. Picture: Getty Images

“It wouldn’t hurt them to show some respect to other players,” Pavic said after the match.

“We saw that with (Kyrios’ singles loss to Daniil) Medvedev. That’s how they are here. But it wouldn’t hurt them to show some respect.”

Mektic did have praise though for the Australian duo, saying: “The guys played really well. They’re a nasty team to beat here and that’s it.”

Having upset – in more ways than one – the top seeds, the Australian duo will now face either 15th seeds Gonzalo Escobar and Ariel Behar, or the German pairing of Dominik Koepfer and Jan-Lennard Struff in the third round.

The all-night session at infamous Melbourne nightclub Revolver they’ve got pencilled for the post-Open party will just have to wait.

The Special Ks plot their victory. Picture: Getty Images

Originally published as Australian Open doubles: Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis accosted in locker room