Thanasi Kokkinakis muses thoughtfully over {the catalogue} of distress that’s being relayed to him about his near-misses in 2023.
Like the time he held set level in each stanzas of his Madrid Open conflict towards Jaume Munar – and acquired crushed.
And the day he had 5 match factors towards Hubert Hurkacz on the Miami Open – and acquired crushed.
Then, there was that close to six-hour epic when he led Andy Murray by two units – and … nicely, you already know the remaining.
Wasn’t that the morning – 4.28am to be precise – when, defeated by a bloke with a metallic hip, he was decreased to tweeting forlornly: “This f***ing sport man.”?
“Oh great, yeah, thanks for reminding me,” Kokkinakis tells AAP with good-natured endurance.
“I went through all the emotions then had a night without sleep. So, yeah, a good day for me, loved it!”
But the nice news is that Kokkinakis, a try-try-and-try-again soldier of Aussie tennis, has a notion to get Lady Luck onside in what he plans to be the toughest, most intensive and most fruitful season of a profession that also guarantees a lot.
Starting at this week’s French Open.
“I’ve tried to make a commitment at least for one year of my career to try to stay over here in Europe as long as possible and play as much as I can,” defined Kokkinakis.
“I definitely struggle with the aspect of playing week in week out without getting home (to Adelaide) very much – so that’s definitely the toughest part for me.
“But I’m trying to play a lot, to have a couple of good results, try to beat my career-high ranking (of 69) and make the top 50. That’s my goal for the end of this year.”
So, it’s an enormous marketing campaign for the likeable, one-time boy marvel of Aussie tennis who’s been by the damage mill and is now reaching the prime years of his profession nonetheless with ambition and coronary heart intact.
“I want to try to put myself in position to be sure I’m in every main draw for every slam, and not on the cusp. I want to get to the Olympics as a priority. These are reasons I’m putting in the hard yards.”
All these near-misses towards Munar, Murray and Hurkacz? “A bit of it’s bad luck, and a bit of it’s my fault – that’s tennis,” he shrugs.
But the legislation of averages is straightforward, he thinks; the extra he performs, the extra probabilities he’ll get, and the extra issues will flip his manner.
“I’ve never before put together a full schedule ever in my career, so I think I’ve got a good opportunity here,” he says, pondering the prospect of taking part in 22 or extra occasions in 2023 and spending 5 straight months away from Australia.
“I’m hoping it will pay dividends – I’d be pretty pissed off if it doesn’t by the end of the year.
“Touch wood, I’m feeling pretty healthy here, I pulled out of competition this week to give myself the best preparation and it’s probably the most clay tournaments I’ve had before the French in a very long time. I’ve given myself the best chance.
“My best result at a slam was at the French in 2015 (reaching the third round), so I definitely think I can play on this stuff.”
But not one other Brit battle, absolutely? He provides a mock groan. “It’s not going to be easy, gonna be a dogfight for sure,” he says about tackling No.20 seed Dan Evans first up.
But a little bit of luck would turn out to be useful too…
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
