A furious Thanasi Kokkinakis has described his ongoing pectoral muscle problems as “physical and mental torture” after losing an epic five-set game at the Australian Open.
The 28-year-old was just one service game away from reaching the third round at Melbourne Park for the first time, but No. 15 seed Jack Draper recovered to win 6-7 (3-7) 6-3 3 -6 7-5. 6-3 in four hours and 35 minutes: the longest match of the tournament.
Kokkinakis served for the match at 5-4 in the fourth set when the victory predictor gave him a 95 percent chance of victory, but the Briton won the next three games.
The Australian was physically struggling all night against Draper, and later revealed that he would not have been able to play his next match even if he had managed to face fellow Australian Aleksandar Vukic.
In an emotional press conference, Kokkinakis said he took “a million painkillers” to play in his home Slam after withdrawing from the Adelaide International last week due to an “incredible amount” of scar tissue in his pectoral.
At the end of the match, Draper consoled Kokkinakis at the net, knowing that his opponent was in intense pain.
A furious Thanasi Kokkinakis has described his ongoing pectoral muscle problems as “mental and physical torture”.
The Australian star was defeated in a marathon five-set by Britain's Jack Draper and was seen receiving treatment for a pectoral problem during the match.
“I had steam coming out of my ears,” Kokkinakis said.
'Nothing against him. “I just knew my future looked bleak.”
Kokkinakis admitted he could now spend some time on the sidelines, but did not go into details about how long he might be out.
“I knew after (the Open) I had to make some serious decisions and I'm going to miss some time,” he said.
'I just tried to empty the tank this week and see what I can do.
'I've been trying to fix it for years manually, without surgery, just trying to do what I can.
'It's the reason I can't support important games.
'My whole body is fine. It's just the same injury I worked so hard to try to heal.'
Draper made an excellent late comeback to take the match from the Australian, but revealed that he had been sledded by some Australian fans during the game.
Kokkinakis had shown great sportsmanship during the fifth game of the fourth set, giving his opponent a point.
The injury-prone right-hander is in his ninth Open campaign after first playing singles at Melbourne Park in 2014 as a 17-year-old.
He has reached the second round six times without going further.
The Adelaide fighter's injury will almost certainly mean he will withdraw from his highly anticipated doubles match against Nick Kyrgios on Thursday.
The pair won the doubles title together at the 2022 Australian Open.
Kokkinakis, “quite upset,” admitted that this loss hurt him more than any other because it doesn't last “forever.”
“There are no guarantees with surgery,” he said.
'They told me that my shoulder surgery… would be cured in three months. It ended up taking me a year and a half to return.
'One thing is for sure: I can't keep doing what I'm doing. “It is mental torture and physical torture.”
But a dismayed Kokkinakis said he had “a lot of doubts” as he reflected on his injury problem after the match.
Kokkinakis showed great sportsmanship during the fifth game of the fourth set, giving his opponent a point.
Draper appeared to have hit a clear winner when chair umpire Marijana Veljovic strangely called for a let even though the pair had already exchanged numerous shots.
The confused pair approached Veljovic, and Kokkinakis decided to hand the point to Draper rather than repeat it.
'Apparently someone spoke into the microphone or something,' he said, revealing what happened at the time. 'It was a long point. I thought I was going to win the point anyway. I gave him the point.'
But a dismayed Kokkinakis, reflecting on his future, added: “I know I don't have it forever.” So I don't know how long I'll be gone or what the future holds, even if I can get back to this point if I do something.
“Yeah, I just have a lot of doubts and I'm pretty upset.”