Former prodigy on the comeback trail with renewed appreciation of tennis

From a fresh-faced future star to a wiser man trying to grind his way to success, Thanasi Kokkinakis is hopeful the best may yet be to come in a career that appeared set for stardom.

Thanasi Kokkinakis is embracing the challenges associated with what he is calling his second career on the court as he looks towards the French Open. Picture: Tennis Australia/Luke Hemer

In the infancy of what Thanasi Kokkinakis calls his second coming, he is still adjusting to the stark differences between his career now and what it was beforehand.

The 25-year-old has spent the past month in Europe and is happy to report, despite a withdrawal from an event in Italy this week, that he is in good shape if a little bored away from the court, but more on that later.

The publication of the official draw sheet from a Challenger event in Biella last Monday stating that Kokkinakis had pulled out due to a pectoral problem sparked concerns in tennis circles.

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Everyone in the sport is aware the one-time prodigy has been to hell, back and beyond with injuries and illness. A pectoral problem ruined his Australian Open campaign in 2019.

But in an interview with The Weekend Australian before the Italian tournament, the South Australian foreshadowed it was simply time for a brief freshen up from playing.

“Given the history that I have, I need to be smart about it. I have played a lot of matches,” he said. “If you told me that I would come overseas to play this many matches in this many weeks, it would be a good result.

“I have to be smart and whether I take this week and next week off to refresh and get myself back up and then play another tournament before the French Open (qualifying), that is probably what I am leaning towards.”

The French Open is the scene of Kokkinakis’s best effort in a major but it is hard to believe that this occurred way back in 2015.

It would have been impossible to predict the trajectory his career would take watching him swap groundstrokes with Novak Djokovic in a third-round encounter on Philippe Chatrier Stadium in Paris.

The Serbian champion was so impressed after his 6-4 6-4 6-4 triumph that he predicted the Adelaide native would be a contender in coming years.

One half of the Special Ks alongside Nick Kyrgios, he appeared to have the world at his feet.

Key sponsorships included Nike and Babolat. The smiling teenager featured as the face of advertising campaigns around Melbourne Park during the Australian Open.

He debuted for Australia in courageous fashion in a Davis Cup tie in the Czech Republic, overcoming a two-set deficit in an important victory for his country.

It is not clear whether he crossed a black cat, broke a mirror or walked under a ladder, but somewhere along the line fortune deserted the popular Australian, who has won only two more matches at grand slam level.

But in his first match on Rod Laver Arena since he tackled Rafael Nadal as a 17-year-old in 2014, Kokkinakis served a reminder his best might yet be to come, pushing Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas to five sets.

It came just a year after the Australian was hospitalised with glandular fever, requiring a machine to help him breath given the severity of the illness.

After suffering stress fractures in his back as a teenager, the former Australian Open junior finalist has been hindered by knee, groin, shoulder and pectoral problems in the years since.

Those problems forced him to the brink emotionally and caused him to consider quitting on a number of occasions.

But wiser to the world and determined to make the most of a talent that saw him beat Roger Federer in the Miami Masters in 2018, he is firmly focused on what he calls his new career.

“It is crazy,” he said.

“I didn’t expect the last few years to go the way they did, that is for sure, but I guess one of the perks of me coming on to the scene fairly early is that I still have a fair bit of time up my sleeve, which is good.

“It is a bit of a different journey, but I have to embrace it and go from there.”

Life on the tour now is vastly different for Kokkinakis for several reasons. No longer is he the fresh face backed by big sponsors who receives wildcards into events. Everything is earned.

An element of tennis business not necessarily discussed relates to sponsorships and the requirements that go with them.

When things are going well, sponsorship earnings effectively act as compound interest to the prize money that is flowing into a player’s account. But there is a catch, as Kokkinakis found when too regularly sidelined through injury and unable to meet performance demands.

The agreements can evaporate. At the Australian Open, for example, he was wearing $6 T-shirts from Kmart. Now his sole sponsor is a non-tennis related company called Safety Culture.

“When you show promise young like I did and had some good results at a young age, companies want to jump on you and sponsor you and back you because they think you are going to be a really good player,” he said.

“Obviously the reality is that careers take different turns and you can be unlucky with injuries, what not, and a lot of that stuff got put to a halt.

“The contracts with Nike and Babolat were very good but a lot of it, especially towards the end of the period, it is tough, because a lot of it is bonus and reduction based.

“So a large chunk of that money can go away and there is not a lot you can do about it. It is pretty tricky. But having a company like Safety Culture jump on board in what feels like the second beginning to my career was a massive help for me.”

Dealing with the demands on players during the COVID-19 era is also considerable, and Kokkinakis says it has made travelling less pleasurable.

Players compete in a bubble during events but have to be particularly careful in between tournaments as well.

Aside from the potential health implications, a positive test could force a player off the tour for up to a month and restrict their ability to train as well.

“You are kind of walking on eggshells the whole time. It is not easy at the moment, if I am honest,” he said.

“It is tricky. Certainly winning helps. The days you are not playing matches, you are really bored. That is probably the toughest part about it.

“Here it is just you and your coach and you are going somewhere and living with each other for six to seven months straight.

“I don’t care how well you get along with someone, that can be pretty full on. But I thought I would bite the bullet.”

Kokkinakis has now played 20 matches in eight tournaments this year. His form and appetite for success is encouraging.

He qualified for the Miami Masters and has also reached three quarter-finals in strong Challenger tournaments in Europe.

Given the current rankings freeze, it has difficult to make inroads, with the Australian sitting at 200 at the moment.

But the key has been to get as many matches under his belt as possible and build confidence in his body with a view to making a big move during the North American hardcourt season as he looks towards 2022.

“It is a dog eat dog world out here,” he said. “I know at my top level, I can be a good player, but it is about backing up consistently and that is an adjustment period as well.”