Stefanos Tsitsipas and Thanasi Kokkinakis scored an emphatic victory in their debut doubles match at the Miami Open on Thursday.
Tsitsipas and Kokkinakis worked together perfectly and defeated Alex De Minaur and Rinky Hijikata 6-3, 6-4, without being threatened for a moment by the two Australians.
Neither of the two’s serve was threatened throughout the match, while they broke early in the 1st set, to “escape” with 4-1, while in the 2nd they led with a break at 4-3 and had a triple chance in the 9th game to end the match with a double break, but they finally did it on the serve of Tsitsipas in the 10th game.
This was Tsitsipas and Kokkinakis’ first ever doubles match, despite having known each other for many years and having a very good relationship.
Both have extensive doubles experience, with Tsitsipas having won the 250 with his brother Petros, the 500 in Acapulco with Feliciano Lopez and was a finalist in the Miami Open with Wesley Koolhof in 2019. Kokkinakis has won a Grand Slam in doubles, along with Nick Kyrgios in Australia in 2022.
Tsitsipas and Kokkinakis will next face the No.3 pair of the board, the American Rajeev Ram and the British Joe Salisbury.
