KOKKINAKIS UPSET SPEARHEADS AUSSIE ASSAULT
THANASI Kokkinakis flirted with retirement last month. Jordan Thompson was beaten in qualifying.
Yesterday, pitted against grand slam heavyweights, the Australian underdogs created carnage at Queen’s Club – and elated in the finest wins of their unorthodox careers.
Thompson, 23, sank a dagger into British hearts by downing Wimbledon champion and world No.1 Andy Murray 7-6 (7-4), 6-2.
Kokkinakis, 21, rocked Canadian third seed Milos Raonic 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (10-8).
And with the departure of Stan Wawrinka, courtesy of a 7-6 (7-4), 7-5 loss to Feliciano Lopez, the AEGON Championships were in chaos.
Not that Kokkinakis, after all his injury issues, cared a hoot about loss of promotional cache.
He last month contemplated ending a 22-month struggle with shoulder, groin, elbow, back and chest issues.
Typically amiable, Kokkinakis revealed doubts over his future eroded his confidence as he worked to return to top-level singles after almost two years out of the game.
Asked if tweets suggesting he was about to retire from tennis ahead of Roland Garros were true, Kokkinakis said: “Yeah … I was being serious.
“I’m usually not a hot head but in practice a couple weeks leading into it, I was just like breaking racquets every day in practice and that’s not me.
“I was just hating it. Winning and playing well in practice was good but then I wasn’t translating.”