Kokki needs to get over his travel bug
Thanasi Kokkinakis concedes he must find ways to motivate himself away from Aussie shores if he is to realise his potential and break into the upper echelon of the ATP Tour.
The South Australian staved off fierce Austrian foe Sebastian Ofner in five gruelling sets on Tuesday night to move into the second round of the Australian Open, where he will face No.13 seed Grigor Dimitrov.
After the match Kokkinakis hailed the crowd at John Cain Arena for helping push him over the line, admitting he sometimes struggled for motivation on tour but never during January at the Australian Open. Though his comment was meant as a thank you to the fans, it revealed an insight into the psyche of the popular Aussie.
Kokkinakis later said he struggled to maintain his level on the year-long ATP Tour.
“Yeah, it’s just tough. I find it, to be honest, very difficult to kind of bring my intensity and level week in, week out as the year gets longer and longer,” he said.
“There’s barely any off-season in this sport. I know you might look in the headlines (and think) I’m a bit of a brat, complaining about something that we get paid well to do, but it is (hard). I’m very jealous of the sports that can play eight months and then have some time off and regroup. It feels like with tennis you’re always kind of looking over your shoulder as to what’s next. There’s no time to really decompress.
“I know you can pick and choose your tournaments, but if you do that too much and take too much time off, guys are going to lap you. It’s a tricky sport and that’s something I’m always trying to get better at.”
The 27-year-old reached a career-high ranking of No.65 in the world at the end of last year. Consecutive first round defeats in Brisbane and Adelaide pushed him back down to 80 ahead of the Australian Open.
Kokkinakis has ridden a rankings rollercoaster throughout his career and long been considered a better player than the number next to his name showed.
He believes the motivation struggles are a major reason why he has not been able to crack the top 50 and beyond.