Kokkinakis one step closer to Open
THANASI Kokkinakis has steadied to seal passage into the final stage of Australian Open qualifying, surviving a wobble against second-round opponent Sebastian Ofner.
The South Australian defeated the Austrian world No. 180, 6-4 7-6 (7-4), losing composure in the second set before rallying in the tie-break.
His reward is a third-round playoff on Friday against Canadian Peter Polansky, with a place in the main draw on the line. Kokkinakis said he had felt edgy and flat.
“Everyone has these days so I’m happy to get through,” he said. Fellow Australians Isabelle Wallace and Lizette Cabrera crashed out of qualifying on Thursday.
Wildcard entrant Wallace claimed the biggest scalp of her career earlier in the week by beating Wimbledon finalist, German Sabine Lisicki, but fell 6-3 6-2 to Dutchwoman Richel Hogenkamp in the second round.
Cabrera, the world No. 234, lost 6-4 6-3 to Belgian Ysaline Bonaventure. HALF a century after winning all four singles majors in the same season, Rod Laver has anointed Novak Djokovic as the player most likely to complete the grand slam sweep.
In Melbourne to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his second grand slam, Laver said the depth of the men’s game made it almost impossible for one player to dominate his rivals – especially in best-of-five set combat.
“I actually don’t see it hapnowadays. BEST HOPE: Novak Djokovic pening because you’ve got so many great players,” the USbased Queenslander said.
“The depth is so strong You’ve got the four guys who’ve been at top so long in Djokovic, Roger Federer, (Rafael) Nadal and (Andy) Murray.
“Then you’ve got the young players like Alexander Zverev and a new crop coming through.
“If I’m gonna pick someone, I’m gonna pick Djokovic to win a grand slam.
“To do it four times in the one year at the grand slams is a big challenge.”