Australian double triumphs: The tennis fairy tale between love and hate

The Australian tennis doubles Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis inspire some and cause trouble or at least horror in others. Now both actually won the biggest title of their careers. He’s historical.

Stan Wawrinka may be reminiscing about an old story these days. One of the most disturbing moments in recent tennis history. A good six years ago, the Swiss world-class player played against Nick Kyrgios, who was promoted at the time and was 20 at the time. In the second set of the match, Kyrgios said, well captured by the outside microphones, in the direction of Wawrinkas: “Kokkinakis banged your girlfriend, sorry to tell you that, mate,” Kyrgios said: “Kokkinakis banged your girlfriend, sorry to have to tell you that , Dude.”

Wawrinka later had to give up due to back problems – and was horrified afterwards: “It’s so disappointing that a colleague can be disrespectful in a way that you couldn’t even imagine,” wrote the two-time Grand Slam champion: “That would I don’t even say that to my worst enemy. It’s unacceptable and beyond anyone’s imagination to sink so low.” The truth of the story hasn’t been resolved. It doesn’t matter either. Anyway, Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios are still there. Both are playing together for the doubles this Saturday Title at the Australian Open. And they are causing trouble again in Australia these days. For some. The others inspire them. And the others are many, many more.

Because Kokkinakis and Kyrgios were sent by the Australian association with a wild card in the doubles competition at the Australian Open. In singles, neither played a significant role in the first Grand Slam tournament of the season, but they hijacked the men’s doubles. And actually won the biggest success of their career in a superior manner. They gave the Australian world-class duo Max Purcell and Matthew Ebden no chance in the first purely Australian doubles final since 1980 with a score of 7:5, 6:4. This was the first time in the professional era since 1968 that a doubles team, which only took part in the tournament thanks to a wildcard, won. And as always, it was a big show. The big and somehow logical end of a wild journey.

In the first round, the two young men swept the number one seeded Croatians Mektic/Pavic off the field, in the semifinals the third seeded Granollers/Zeballos had no chance and in between the Australians said goodbye to the German doubles specialist Tim Pütz and his partner Michael Venus Competition. Their matches have long since taken place in the Rod Laver Arena, the largest stage of the tournament.

“On a Razor Edge”

And what the Australians brought to the court can rightly be called the greatest show in tennis. The two celebrate victories with wild dances, they jump against each other in the air and roll across the square entwined. Hardly a match goes by without a “nervous breakdown” from one of the two. In the semifinals, Kyrgios complained loudly to the chair umpire about what he believed to be an incorrectly set mesh sensor, after which he lost his serve. But while Kyrgios struggled with himself, Kokkinakis found his best tennis. A few games later the match was over. Because Kokkinakis and Kyrgios complement each other in his team, which sometimes brings brilliant tennis to the court. “I think we both bring something different, a different energy, a different charisma on the pitch, but we just enjoy it and have fun,” said Kokkinakis, describing the dynamic between the two.

The audience loves the two tattooed “Special Ks” with dangling earrings, as the team has long been known. In the quarterfinals against Pütz/Venus, Kyrgios unnecessarily kicked a ball into the audience – and hit a little boy. Kyrgios was honestly shocked and gave one of his rackets to the bitterly crying fan. All good, the audience went wild with enthusiasm. Something is always. “It’s all about the audience, the atmosphere that gets us going, and then we take care of the tennis,” said Kokkinakis recently after winning the semifinals. “It brings out the best in us and I don’t know if we would have achieved that result anywhere else.” Kyrgios thinks he’s on a mission anyway. The 26-year-old wants to make his compatriots happy and entertained after the enormous hardships caused by Corona. After spectacular points, Kyrgios sometimes does a lap of honor with outstretched arms to celebrate with his own fans.

Both use the audience to their advantage, they animate it to push themselves and sometimes also to take away the opponent’s desire a bit. Or at least the focus. In a sport where rest is actually sacred, at least in the concentration phases, the behavior of the “Special Ks” is borderline, at least. “If it’s just about entertainers and good vibes, everything’s okay. He’s on a knife edge between being an entertainer and being over the top,” said Davis Cup player Tim Pütz in the direction of Kyrgios. “What he then does between the first and second serve has nothing to do with entertainment, it has nothing to do with being funny, it’s just unsportsmanlike.”

“The more the better”

The unleashed fans of the Australian doubles had repeatedly heckled in the phase between Pütz’s first and second serve, clearly visibly in the spirit of Kyrgios. Double faults were applauded, Kyrgios sometimes even aped the opponent. And yet: “Tennis is entertainment and Kyrgios is good for the sport in many ways,” said Pütz, still half appreciative: “As long as there are no real rules – my goodness, that’s the way it is. That’s why I said it was very mental tiring. Already wild out there.”

After the first-round win against Mektic/Pavic, there almost even came a physical altercation: a member of the Croatian team accused them of “showing off in front of their home crowd” and threatened them. “He came up to Nick and said we were being disrespectful; Nick hit an opponent with a ball but that’s normal.” One of the coaches threatened to hit her. “It was pretty funny, I’m not going to lie,” he explained, saying he expected the pair to “be a little bit better at losing”. Kyrgios then wished the Croatian doubles and their coaches “enjoy their flight home”.

Now everything should be even wilder: Because the cheapest ticket for their final day in the Rod Laver Arena costs the equivalent of around 200 euros, the two crowd favorites want to turn the price screw personally! “Craig (Tiley, Tournament Director – Editor’s note) may not be happy with that, but if that means we have to drop prices to fill the stands, then we’ll do whatever it takes to fill them up ‘ Kokkinakis said. “The more the merrier, the atmosphere would be fantastic.”

“Extremely disrespectful”

Well, the tickets remained expensive, but it was still full. Local heroine Ashleigh Barty won the women’s singles title for the first time, then Kokkinakis and Kyrgios welcomed two more Australians, Max Purcell and Matthew Ebden, to their home cauldron for the grand finale of the Special K show. Australian doubles specialist Casey Dellacqua warned: “The people who come have already bought their tickets,” she told Channel Nine. “I think it’s going to be a very different crowd than what we’ve seen so far. The crowd came to see the singles final and after that comes the men’s doubles. I think it’s going to be more even than it was was the case with Nick and Thanasi’s other games.”

However, Purcell and Ebden were not lucky enough to be able to help shape the spectacle at least a little bit and not just be there as extras. Kokkinakis and Kyrgios didn’t allow a single breakball in the entire match. The four compatriots were not particularly friendly beforehand. Purcell had already described Kyrgios and Kokkinakis as “extremely disrespectful”. Purcell responded with his comment on Instagram to a user who said Kyrgios should have been immediately banned when he threw the ball into the crowd in the semifinals, which hit a young fan. “Couldn’t agree more,” he first wrote from his verified account, before adding in another comment, “I’m just saying the way these guys are behaving is extremely disrespectful to their opponents. Love them the show and all that. We know exactly what they can do. We respect how they play. We have to find a way to counter that and do what we can.” They didn’t find it, Kokkinakis and Kyrgios brought the fairy tale to a triumphant end.

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