By Chris Oddo | Monday, March 16, 2015
Thanasi Kokkinakis has made the most of his good luck--and ignored the bad--en route to a round the round of 16 at Indian Wells.
Photo Source: Tennis Australia
Wild card Thanasi Kokkinakis scrapped his way past Juan Monaco in a wild match on Monday, becoming the youngest ATP round of 16 participant at Indian Wells in four years.
Kokkinakis’s good fortune began when he was on a plane from the Czech Republic early in the week, planning to play qualifying at Indian Wells. He got a text from his agent that he was in the main draw as a wild card after Juan Martin del Potro pulled out.
On Monday Kokkinakis got a stroke of bad luck when he was denied a match point thanks to a bad call. Juan Monaco’s shot that should have given Kokkinakis the win was out according to replays, but the “in” call stood because the Aussie was out of challenges and umpire Mohamed Lahyani did not overrule.
Kokkinakis was frustrated but he didn’t dwell on his bad fate. Instead he finished off his 6-2, 5-7, 7-6(5) victory to set up an all-Aussie encounter with Bernard Tomic in the round of 16.
“Yeah, well, it was definitely frustrating me,” he told reporters. “I know Mohamed pretty well. He's a good guy. Obviously he made a mistake. It was tough for him to overrule that.” He added: “I haven't seen the replay, but I'm sure if he overruled and called it out Monaco would have had a crack at it as well, because he didn't have any challenges remaining.”
That’s impressive maturity for an 18-year-old who was ranked in the low 600’s at the beginning of last season. Blessed with a smooth, well-balanced game, Kokkinakis moves and hits with fluidity. He’s not going to knock socks off with power or dazzle with trickery, but he’s got very mature game that is perfectly suited for today's slower, grittier hard courts.
His compatriot Tomic has a much more eclectic, herky-jerky game, but after years of struggles, both mentally and physically, he is hitting his stride in 2015. He defeated the tour’s win leader in 2015, David Ferrer, to reach the round of 16 for the first time at Indian Wells. The 22-year-old improved to 18-6 in the season, and he appears to be ramping up his determination so as not to be left behind by the pair of Aussies (Kyrgios and Kokkinakis) that are currently making their way up the rankings while simultaneously enjoying lots of media attention.
Some of that attention will be thrown Tomic’s way if he can take down Kokkinakis to reach the quarterfinals at Indian Wells, but in the long run the three young Aussies who are making waves should all continue to climb provided that they keep supporting one another and vibing off each other’s success.