World No 159 has endured his own lengthy list of injuries but is looking forward to taking on the Scot at the Australian Open
“Andy is someone I respect a great amount,” Kokkinakis says. “Obviously he has been at the top of the game, and he can relate a little bit with the injury side of things. I missed a fair few years, and so has he, especially recently.
“He was someone when I came on to tour that was always willing to give some advice. I practised with him a fair bit, I played doubles with him at Indian Wells, so we have a fairly good relationship.”upset 13th seed Matteo Berrettini for his first top-20 scalp in six years. Kokkinakis jokes that he wishes he “had metal body parts” because “they might have held up a little bit better”. At 26, the South Australian has dealt with shoulder, pectoral, groin, knee and elbow problems along with a bout of glandular fever in early 2020 that left him in hospital and 14kg lighter.
Thanasi Kokkinakis and Andy Murray during practice at Wimbledon last June – Thursday’s match will be only their second meeting in competition.“Everyone has their own thing to deal with,” he says. “I definitely wouldn’t say my physique is A1 all the time. I feel if there’s anyone that can relate to injuries, it’s Andy.”
The past 12 months have been better for the world No 159, though he is still yet to progress past the second round in Melbourne, with the third round of the 2015 French Open his best grand slam tournament result. And as Murray recovers from his physically taxing five-setter, Kokkinakis must mentally reset after waiting almost 24 hours to wrap up his rain-delayed first-round match with another Italian, Fabio Fognini.
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