Wimbledon 2024: Thanasi Kokkinakis upsets Felix Auger-Aliassime in five sets
Thanasi Kokkinakis came from two sets down to upset 17th-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime in a thrilling match.
Thanasi Kokkinakis has played breathtaking tennis to save four match points and win a five-set thriller against 17th-seeded Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime at Wimbledon.
In a rollercoaster of a match spanning two days because of rain delays, the 28-year-old Australian marched one step closer to a showdown with celebrated compatriot Alex de Minaur at the All England Club.
Kokkinakis overcame Auger-Aliassime 4-6 5-7 7-6 (11-9) 6-4 6-4.
He thumped his chest with his racquet to signify what the victory was. All heart. He looked dead and buried on Tuesday before sneaking through the tiebreaker just before the battle was halted for the night. Kokkinakis and Auger-Aliassime were locked at 1-1 in the fourth set when they resumed late on Wednesday.
The ball-striking from Kokkinakis was spectacular and blew Auger-Aliassime out of the tournament. The match lasted four hours and 38 minutes … and finished more than 24 hours after it started.
Kokkinakis has gone the distance in five of his six matches at this year’s majors.
“I’d rather not. It doesn’t help me going deeper into the tournament, that’s for sure. Thankfully it’s best-of-five otherwise I wouldn’t have won many matches this year. The beauty of five sets is it’s a rollercoaster, with lots of momentum swings. You just have to keep playing and see what happens.”
Kokkinakis was the lone Australian victor on day three in London. Aleksandar Vukic played a mighty first set before losing 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 6-2 to defending champion Carlos Alcaraz.
Jordan Thompson was eliminated 6-3 6-3 6-2 by American Brandon Nakashima.
Mixed fortunes for other stars
Jannik Sinner reached the third round as Japanese superstar Naomi Osaka was demolished on her return to Centre Court after a five-year absence.
Australian Open champion Sinner defeated Italian Davis Cup teammate Matteo Berrettini 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-4) 2-6, 7-6 (7-4) in a three-hour 42-minute duel.
Berrettini, the 2021 runner-up, fired 65 winners, including 28 aces, past the top seed and carved out four breaks of serve to two.
However, Sinner calmly recovered from a break down in the fourth set before playing the more composed tiebreak, which ended when Berrettini committed his 48th and final unforced error of the contest.
“It’s very tough we had to face each other in the second round,” said 2023 semi-finalist Sinner, who will take on Miomir Kecmanovic for a place in the last 16.
Four-time major winner Osaka, playing on Centre Court for the first time since 2019, went down 6-4 6-1 to America’s Emma Navarro in just 59 minutes.
The 26-year-old former world number one is now ranked at 113 having only returned to the tour in January after giving birth to daughter Shai last year.
“I’m a little disappointed because I wanted to do really well. I feel like I put a lot of time into it. There’s always next year,” said Osaka.
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 to see off Alexandre Muller of France 6-7 (3/7) 7-6 (7/4) 6-4 7-5.
Tomas Machac, who had been scheduled to face Andy Murray before the two-time champion withdrew, came back from 0-5 down in the final set to beat lucky loser David Goffin in a tie-break.
In all, there were a Grand Slam record-tying eight comebacks from two sets down in the first round, with opening matches running into the third day due to rain delays.
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.
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.
Former US Open champions Emma Raducanu of Britain and Bianca Andreescu of Canada also progressed.
Zhang Zhizhen’s bid to become the first Chinese man in the Open era to reach the third round at Wimbledon fizzled out in a four-set defeat to Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff.
Teenage compatriot Shang Juncheng will have the same opportunity on Thursday when he faces 10th seed Grigor Dimitrov in one of eight second-round ties pushed back a day due to rain.
Four Australians are in singles action on Thursday: de Minaur versus Jaume Munar; Alexei Popyrin against Tomas Martin Etcheverry; Adam Walton versus Francisco Comesana; Kokkinakis against Lucas Pouille; and Daria Saville against Marta Kostyuk.
Kokkinakis and de Minaur are on track for an all-Australian battle royale in round three.
Additional reporting: AFP
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