Kokkinakis was losing hope, but a tendon from a dead person might have saved his career

Thanasi Kokkinakis had to earn his Australian Open spot the hard way in qualifying on the backblocks of Melbourne Park seven years ago.

He proceeded to breeze through three matches without dropping a set – defeating Mohamed Safwat, Sebastian Ofner, then Peter Polansky – to qualify for a grand slam for the first time. However, the now-29-year-old remembers that Open for a different, yet familiar, reason.

“I hit a forehand against Polansky, and something didn’t feel right,” Kokkinakis told this masthead.

“I went and got a scan. They said it was maybe a grade one [strain in my pectoral muscle]. I was like, ‘It feels a lot worse than a grade-one strain’, but they said that’s all you can see on the scan, and you’ll be right to play.”

So, Kokkinakis played his first-round match against Japan’s Taro Daniel – but it did not go well.

The injury-cursed baseliner began suffering nerve pain and his serving arm went numb, eventually resulting in him retiring from the match while leading Daniel 7-5, 2-4.

Kokkinakis said afterwards that he would not require surgery, which he explained this week was based on “bad doctor’s advice”. Seven years and many setbacks later, he is on the comeback trail again – but this time after insisting on revolutionary surgery he hopes saves his career.

Kokkinakis knew entering last year’s Australian Open that he was headed for another extended stint out, owing to the right pectoral issue that has plagued him, off and on, since that clash with Polansky.

Weeks later, after Kokkinakis conducted extensive research himself and surveyed experts at home and abroad, world-renowned Melbourne surgeon Greg Hoy reattached the pectoral muscle to the right shoulder with the help of an Achilles tendon graft from a dead person.

Hoy was one of the few willing to perform what is believed to be a tennis-first operation that is more common in weightlifters.

“If someone recommended me not to do it, I just blacklisted them,” Kokkinakis said.

“I was fine with retiring rather than keeping on doing what I was doing. I couldn’t back up matches, and was losing hope. I want to lose because people beat me at tennis. If that happens, fine. But if I lose because I can’t serve, which is my strength, then I’m cooked.”

Kokkinakis does not know yet if his surgery was successful, but made an emotional return in doubles with Nick Kyrgios in Brisbane last week, including choking back tears after their first-round win.

He wakes up each day with a stiff shoulder that eventually loosens, but so far, there is no pain in his pectoral muscle after matches.

‘If someone recommended me not to do it, I just blacklisted them.’

Australian tennis star Thanasi Kokkinakis

Whether Kokkinakis’ pectoral problems are behind him will crystallise in the months and years ahead, but he will know far sooner about his Australian Open chances.

He is in the draw thanks to a protected ranking, owing to him not playing for so long, but will use the Adelaide International – in the city he grew up in before relocating to Melbourne – to gauge if he is ready to step back into the grand slam cauldron.

The ideal result is to find himself in, and win, a gruelling three-set singles battle because he will learn if he can physically back it up.

That will determine if Kokkinakis contests the singles event at the Australian Open. He admits he is more motivated to play because it is his favourite time of the year.

“But I also can’t forget the reason I did the surgery, which is to not just make up the numbers,” Kokkinakis said. “I want to be able to play a match, and know that I can play the next one healthy.”

Even if Kokkinakis decides to play at the Open, which starts next Sunday, he is asking for patience because he does not expect to be near his best until at least mid-year.

What he does know is that he is not satisfied with what he has achieved, from a best ranking of No.65 to never advancing beyond the third round at a grand slam, which he managed three times at Roland-Garros.

Persistent injuries have contributed to a player who boasts three top-10 scalps – Milos Raonic (2017), Roger Federer (2018) and Andrey Rublev (2023) – not realising his potential. Kokkinakis also points to his victories over stars Ben Shelton, Jakub Mensik and Arthur Fils late in 2024.

“I’d say most of the tour would probably agree on that,” Kokkinakis said.

“Of course, I want to break top 50. Does my career change, mentally, if I end up 49 or 50 in the world, as opposed to a career-high 65? Probably not.

“I think I can make some runs, and I’ve beaten too many good guys to not give myself a chance. But I can’t do it forever. I’ve got five more years, at best. I’m going to try and leave no stone unturned, and that was part of my decision going into the surgery.”

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