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scoreline: Kokkinakis 5-7, 6-0, 1-6, 7-6, 8-6
The 18 year old Kokkinakis has taken out the no. 11 seed Ernests Gulbis in (as predicted) five epic sets lasting 4 hours. It is a career defining win for Kokkinakis and great signs for Australian tennis. Goodness me the dawn of a new era in aussie tennis is upon us and it looks set to be a good one. Kokkinakis saved four match points of his own in the fourth set and played clutch tennis when it counted. What a victory!
Thanasi Kokkinakis will look to cause a big upset at the Australian Open when he faces the seeded Latvian Ernests Gulbis in the first round. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 6.00pm (AEDT).
Kokkinakis is no stranger to playing big matches at the Australian Open and such experience should serve him well when he faces off against the talented but inconsistent Gulbis tonight.
The young Australian played none other than Rafael Nadal in the second round last year and left a very good impression despite losing in straight sets.
If Kokkinakis can build on his efforts against Nadal, then he is every chance of causing the upset against an opponent that, on his day, can go deep into grand slam tournaments.
Gulbis made headlines last year after making the 2014 French Open semi-finals, defeating Roger Federer and Tomas Berdych in the process. The Latvian is an extravagant player with a strong first serve and a very good backhand. He is an offensive player that will keep Kokkinakis on his toes if he is allowed to dominate from inside the baseline.
A fit and firing Gulbis would have too much power and skill for Kokkinakis to handle at this stage of his flourishing career. Gulbis however hasn’t had the best of starts to the new season, losing in the first round in Auckland. He is a confidence player and tends to struggle against opposition that he is favoured to defeat.
With this in mind, Kokkinakis has to come out playing aggressive tennis. An early break of serve will get the crowd right into the contest and this may frustrate Gulbis.
The key issue for Kokkinakis will be whether or not he can stand toe to toe with Gulbis in a best of five set match. At the Brisbane International, Kokkinakis pushed Bernard Tomic all the way in the first set only to lose the second set quickly.
The young Australian has to prove that he can come back from adversity because there is a chance that Gulbis could race out of the blocks given the talent that the Latvian possesses.
With a vocal crowd at his back, Kokkinakis should be primed for a big performance and he may just produce an effort that could allow him to seal the biggest win of his young career so far.
Kokkinakis in five sets.