Aussie Thanasi Kokkinakis won’t rule out Tokyo Olympics as he fights to return to his best tennis
Despite injury curtailing his rise up the world tennis ranks, Adelaide export Thanasi Kokkinakis is now fighting fit and ready for an assault on the 2020 tennis calendar.
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It is almost five years since Thanasi Kokkinakis played Novak Djokovic at the French Open, nearly six since he duelled with Rafael Nadal on Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne.
“It’s crazy, he came onto the scene so young, his body was not ready for the big tournaments,” says the Adelaide player’s coach Todd Langman.
It is, of sorts, the ultimate backhanded compliment.
Kokkinakis, the former prodigy from Seacombe Heights, is now 23-years-old and ranked 197 in the world (remarkably there are 11 Aussies above him).
He has, he reckons, only played one quarter of the matches available had he been fully fit over the past five years.
“It’s hard because there are mates who have played four or five times as much. A lot of the guys I started with have gone to the next level,” says Kokkinakis.
It is said without self pity or regret.
Next Monday, in Canberra, Kokkinakis, once ranked 69, will begin his assault on the 2020 tennis calendar at a Challenger tournament, a staple for players looking to crack the top 100.
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He played just nine tournaments last year (finishing five), but this year will be better he says, an emphasis on staying healthy paramount.
“He has not had a pre season like this for a long time,” says Langman, who hit with Kokkinakis at Memorial Drive over Christmas before the player returned to his Melbourne base.
“My pre-season probably started five weeks ago, I broke for a week in Bali a month ago,” says Kokkinakis.
Did you play over there?
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“No, I was there with my mates on holiday, we hadn’t done it before.”
The break was welcome, fellow Aussie young guns Alex de Minaur and Alexei Popyrin managed just a week off each before their 2020 training kicked in.
“Seven days is not much, the seasons mix in. That’s one of the tough things, even though I didn’t play that many events I was always travelling and didn’t really get to take time off,” says Kokkinakis.
The Kokkinakis of 2020 is a more reflective version it seems, more mature.
To have so much time out of the game will take its toll on anyone says Langman, who has coached Kokkinakis for 15 years.
He’s like an older brother says the player, part of the family.
It is, if anything, an understatement.
When Langman’s daughter was born, the coach spent 38 weeks that year on tour with his charge.
Something had to give, Langman is now ramping up his Adelaide coaching business and will stay largely in SA, 30-year-old local coach Todd Ley stepping into the fray, a long term plan to boost all.
Ley, incidentally, is the youngest ever athlete signed by sports management giant IMG and was based at the famed Nick Bollettieri Academy, home to Andre Agassi, Anna Kournikova and others.
A right shoulder injury followed by pectoral problems did for Kokkinakis last year but niggles aside, he is fighting fit he says.
Making the Tokyo Olympics this year would be wonderful but is not currently on the cards, unlike in 2016 when he ignored all advice and headed to Rio to turn out for Australia.
“I had not played and was under prepared. Tokyo would be a great achievement especially as I am a long way off,” he says.
“It’s a definite possibility, but I have smaller targets first.
“I have to be healthy and play really well and stay injury free.”
He enjoys his sport patently – wins over Roger Federer who he beat in Miami in 2018 and Milos Raonic on grass in 2017 are rattled off, score perfect – but it comes with a wider picture about playing on.
“There are times when you have doubts,” Kokkinakis says.
“You start to play because you enjoy it, but it really is a job at the end of the day.
“You have highs and lows, I was struggling in 2016, I was pretty depressed at the start of 2017, I was not really playing to what I thought I could, I had a few dark times in those years.”
Langman knows the score.
”With the amount of injuries Thanasi has had, mental health is a real concern but he has a good support base, his family have helped him get through the tough times,” he says.
“It’s a credit to him that he is still in the sport, a lot of people would have packed up.”
Post Canberra, Kokkinakis will attempt to qualify for the Australian Open.
His ranking means the Adelaide International is unlikely this year but, at same point, remains on Langman’s agenda.
“It would be a dream to see someone I have coached play here.”
Originally published as Aussie Thanasi Kokkinakis won’t rule out Tokyo Olympics as he fights to return to his best tennis