The highlight of the tournament so far has been watching the bromance between Greek Australians Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios grow, who despite their loss against Wesley Koolhof and Łukasz Kubot this afternoon, certainly secured their title as the 2021 Australian Open’s greatest ‘bromance’.
Kokkinakis and Kyrgios were reunited on the court only a day after they defeated Lloyd Harris and Julian Knowle in straight sets. Speaking about their on-court discussions during the match yesterday, the pair delivered one of the most comedic interviews of the tournament.
Kyrgios: “I’m a taken man, so he was talking to me about girls most of the time.”
Kokkinakis: “He’s throwing me under a bus. But that’s not true, we were just having fun.”
Kyrgios then joked the only thing that had changed since their last match was Kokkinakis’ direct messages.
The pair arrived to the court on-time this afternoon, ready to face experienced double’s opponents of Koolhof and Kubot. The Dutch and Polish tennis players started the set strong, delivering instant service game pressure and refusing to give a break away.
Kokkinakis and Kyrgios, despite their strong chemistry, looked slightly outmatched in the first set. A mix of expert strategy and strength from Koolhof and Kubot saw them get a break point against the Greek Australians and keep a safe distance away.
Despite putting some increased pressure after their point break loss, Kyrgios and Kokkinakis proceeded to lose the first set 6-3.
Koolhof and Kubot began the second set just as strong as the first, working in unison to predict their opponents movements. The two earned a break point in Kyrgios and Kokkinakis’ second service game, putting the Greek-Australians in a difficult position to secure their future in the tournament.
Like the previous set, the two Greek-Australians bounced back to pressure their opponents, coming close in three games to secure a break point. Unfortunately for Kyrgios and Kokkinakis, they were unable to break their experienced opponents and lost the match in straight sets, 6-3 6-4.
Despite hitting double the amount of aces, the boy-hood friends were clearly outmatched by their more experienced 4th seed opponents.
