Australia’s French Open singles marketing campaign is over for one more 12 months after Thanasi Kokkinakis’s career-best grand-slam run led to a match of frustration and fury.
Kokkinakis bowed out with a 6-4 6-1 3-6 7-6 (7-5) third-round loss to Russian eleventh seed Karen Khachanov at Roland Garros on Friday.
Kokkinakis fought gamely to increase the match to virtually 5 units after participating in a working verbal battle with chair umpire Katarzyna Radwan-Cho.
At one level, Kokkinakis was left exasperated at being denied the prospect to go for a bathroom break after shedding the second set.
“All I’m asking is to try and piss,” he pleaded to the official.
“I get two for a match. Do you want me to piss on the court? Is that what you want? So what do you want now?
“I’m asking to go to the bathroom. I like cramped in my final match cos I could not .. so brutal.”
Despite the drama, Kokkinakis battled back to take the third set, then have the world No.11 on tilt in the fourth.
Khachanov has reached the last four at the past two grand slams after ousting Kokkinakis’s doubles partner Nick Kyrgios from last year’s US Open quarter-finals.
But he looked a beaten man when Kokkinakis served for the fourth set, then forged to a 4-1 lead in the fourth-set tiebreaker.
Alas, Australia’s last man standing in Paris once again fell in the third round – as he did in 2015 as a teenager – after surrendering his big fourth-set lead.
Despite his disappointing exit, Kokkinakis is projected to rise 23 spots to No.83 in the world, all but guaranteeing a direct entry to Wimbledon next month.
But the 27-year-old will still rue the one that got away after being left infuriated by the chair umpire on Friday.
First he complained about her not intervening about fans chattering in the stands.
“They’re speaking on my serve throughout each level and you are not saying a factor.” Kokkinakis said.
Then, after losing the first set, the South Australian moaned about the courts being watered, which Khachanov totally agreed with.
“It’s already the slowest potential circumstances – ever – and also you’re placing water on a court docket that is not slippery,” Kokkinakis stated.
“The court docket is dying,” said Khachanov.
In even more worrying signs, after losing his cool mentally, Kokkinakis began to break down physically in the opening game of the second set.
He repeatedly clutched at his right pec, tried to stretch the muscle between points and complained to his courtside box about having “zero energy on serve”.
Agitated enough over a line call that went against him, Kokkinakis then blew his stack about the “ineffective” chair umpire for being unable to control the crowd before dropping his opening service game of the second set.
Kokkinakis rallied to win the third set, raising hopes that the unfulfilled talent could reach the second week of a grand slam for the first time – some eight years after making the last 32 in Paris for his previous best major result.
But it was to not be, with Kokkinakis finally submitting after three hours and 42 minutes.
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
