‘Pretty one-way traffic’: Novak Djokovic cleans up Thanasi Kokkinakis in straight sets
London: Thanasi Kokkinakis has fallen victim to Novak Djokovic in full flight on the Wimbledon centre court and, given the nature of the defeat, Australia’s world No.79 is hopeful the Serbian goes on to win the title for a seventh time.
Top seed Djokovic took two hours to eliminate Kokkinankis, reducing Australia’s men’s singles contingent to Alex de Minaur, Jordan Thompson, Nick Kyrgios and Jason Kubler.
Thanasi Kokkinakis of Australia plays a forehand against Novak Djokovic of Serbia.Credit:Getty
While Kokkinakis this week broke his Wimbledon hoodoo, the South Australian is freed up to partner close friend Nick Kyrgios in best-of-five-sets doubles action.
“Tough. Wasn’t great from my end,” Kokkinakis said after the 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 loss to defending champion Djokovic.
“Wasn’t able to execute. He does everything right. It was pretty one-way traffic. It was frustrating. But, you know, yeah, got chopped today.”
Asked if Djokovic was nigh on unstoppable over the next fortnight, Kokkinakis said: “If someone beats him when he’s playing like that it means I’m even further off than I thought.”
Australian Open doubles champions Kokkinakis and Kyrgios are poised to partner up on Thursday but Kyrgios also has a second round singles match against Filip Krajinovic.
Kyrgios is embroiled in Wimbledon controversy after spitting on court in the direction of a crowd heckler on Tuesday – an act which he strongly defended – and for calling a linesperson a “snitch”.
The All England Club is yet to indicate if Kyrgios will be fined.
Kokkinakis said he was not aware of what close friend Kyrgios had done during his match against British qualifier Paul Jubb but said that player behaviour should stay “within the boundaries”.
Serbia’s Novak Djokovic celebrates defeating Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis.Credit:AP
“I actually didn’t see it … I didn’t know he spat or anything like that,” said Kokkinakis.
“I just saw the result. It was good to pull it out because he was battling there for a while. Any win is a good win.
“I know when he plays there is always some sort of drama … As long as he obviously keeps it within reason.
“Some things happen on court a lot of people don’t mean, but sometimes it comes out. I think it just shows he cares and wants to win.”
After an injury-afflicted career, things are coming together for Kokkinakis, 26, after grand slam main draw appearances this year in Melbourne, Paris and at Wimbledon for the first time in five years.
“I’ve had my best year to date,” said Kokkinakis.
“A lot of firsts for me this year, a lot of things I haven’t done. It’s tough. The result didn’t go my way today. I wish I could have played better.
“I’ll just use it and be better for it going forward.”
Kokkinakis was facing an uphill battle from the outset against 20-time major winner Djokovic, slumping to 0-3 in the opening set.
“The court felt slow. Again, obviously he has a big part to do with that,” said Kokkinakis.
“But I felt if I wasn’t landing my first within sort of an inch of the line, it was tough. He was middling it and putting it back on my toes.
“He was too good today, wasn’t letting me play my game and free up.
“[He] just makes you work for a lot of things and just moves so well on it. When he got me moving, I felt like I was almost going to stack it every time I was wide.”
News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.
Watch all the action from Wimbledon ad-free, live and on demand on Stan Sport, with matches streaming in 4K UHD from June 27. Coverage of select matches commences on 9GEM from 7.30pm (AEST) each night.
Most Viewed in Sport
From our partners
Source: Read Full Article