‘It’s torture’: Aussie star Thanasi Kokkinakis makes tough decision to undergo surgery

Aussie tennis star Thanasi Kokkinakis has been forced to make a tough choice after his season was yet again hampered by injury.

Aussie tennis star Thanasi Kokkinakis has revealed he went under the knife in an attempt to put an end to the “mental and physical torture” he’s been suffering with a longstanding pectoral injury.

Kokkinakis has been struggling with the pec injury for several years and suggested he would likely need surgery at the Australian Open after he had to call it quits in his doubles match with Nick Kyrgios.

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“There’s no guarantees with surgery. (But) one thing is for sure, I can’t keep doing what I’m doing,” Kokkinakis said at the time.

“It’s mental torture and physical torture.

Thanasi Kokkinakis suffered with the troublesome pec at the Australian Open. Picture: Mark Stewart

“I’m playing with a crazy amount of scar tissue in there. It’s something that every time I show a physio or a doctor or something, they’re taken back by it.

“I’ve tried to sort it out for years manually, without surgery, just trying to do what I can. It’s the reason why I can’t back up big matches.

“My whole body is fine. It’s just the same injury that I worked so hard on to try to get right. I still can’t do it. That’s the thing holding me back.”

Adelaide tennis star Thanasi Kokkinakis has undergone surgery for a pec injury. Picture: Instagram

Kokkinakis, however, put off the surgery until after Australia’s Davis Cup tie with Sweden.

After finally getting the procedure he needed on Thursday, the 28-year-old shared a picture to social media of him in a hospital bed and admitted he now had to face the “toughest challenge” of his tennis career.

“Been struggling for a little while with this … I’ve been trying to find the answers to an ongoing pec injury that I haven’t been able to fix,” he wrote.

“Let’s see how this goes. Thank you for all your ongoing support.”

There’s no time frame about when Kokkinakis may return to the court.

However, he will be hoping it goes better than the last time.

Kokkinakis previously revealed he had surgery before to try and address the issue.

However, not only did it not work, it took way longer than he was told to recover from.

“I got told my shoulder surgery was going to be ready, I’d be healed up in three months,” Kokkinakis said.

“Ended up taking me a year and a half to get back.”