In his young career, Thanasi Kokkinakis has taken a few blows with a number of injuries, but the Greek Australian cemented that he is full steam ahead after beating Roger Federer at the Miami Open over the weekend.
The loss is sure to be one Federer will remember, costing him the top spot to Spaniard Rafael Nadal, who despite missing the tournament because of a hip injury will be the new number one.
Ranked 175th – it is only Kokkinakis’ fifth tournament in the past seven months – the 21-year-old came out with big serves, winning 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4).
Pleased with his performance, Kokkinakis exclaimed after the match “Pretty crazy. I’m pretty happy about it.”
Meanwhile Federer expressed his frustration after the game.
“Every time I had chances, something bad happened,” Federer said.
“Wrong decision-making by me, good decision-making by him. It’s disappointing.
“I don’t know why I couldn’t get to any level I was happy with today.”
While they have practised together, it was the first time the players came up against one another. While Kokkinakis was fully aware the majority of fans were there for Federer, he didn’t let it get in the way of an epic win.
“When I came on court there wasn’t much cheering,” Kokkinakis said with a laugh.
“I just needed to play my game and aggressive tennis.
“That game I knuckled down and put pressure on him. I started to dictate from there.”
The young player became the lowest-ranked male to beat a world number one since 178th ranked Francisco Clavet beat Lleyton Hewitt in Miami in 2003.
Fellow Greek Australian Nick Kyrgios also had success at the tournament, moving through to the third round with a win against Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic.
