Aussie comeback kid Thanasi Kokkinakis will face a tough first-round battle at the Australian Open against Sydney International champion Daniil Medvedev. Join The Roar for live scores from around 3pm (AEDT).
Kokkinakis, after spending the better part of two years watching on from the sidelines, has come back with a bang, playing three grand slams since last year’s French Open and a number of other tournaments.
The best of those was a final appearance at Los Cabos, beating Tomas Berdych on the way through.
While he eventually fell in the first round of the US Open and ended his season, he has picked up strongly in 2018, starting off at the Hopman Cup.
The level of tennis he produced in a three-set win over world No.4 Alexander Zverev was superb. He also beat Canadian Vasek Pospisil during the week, while he fell to David Goffin.
His serve percentages throughout the week were sensational and the win against Zverev was potentially the best he has played since coming back from injury.
If he can keep up that level, this match against Medvedev is going to be one of the best in the first round.
The 21-year-old Russian is coming off a breakthrough ATP victory after taking out the Sydney International last week.
It continues his rise through the world rankings, with Medvedev sitting just outside the top 50 in the world after a strong 2017.
After losing at the Playford Challenger in the first round to kick his season off, he went to Sydney where he had to qualify, before dropping just three sets across five rounds to win the tournament.
Medvedev recorded wins against Philipp Kohlschreiber, Jared Donaldson, Paolo Lorenzi and Fabio Fognini on his way to the final where he met Alex De Minaur. The young Aussie was in superb form, but Medvedev found it within himself to come back from a set down and record a superb victory.
The pair have played twice previously, with Medvedev winning both meetings. They were both on grass and very early on in the comeback trail for Kokkinakis, so don’t provide a great deal of insight for this match.
The winner will play either Mischa Zverev or Hyeon Chung in the second round.
Prediction
Both players will be full of confidence and this could be one of the matches of the first round. Expect it to go all the way and Kokkinakis, on the virtue of being just a little bit fresher after not playing last week, to take the victory.
Kokkinakis in five sets.
Be sure to join The Roar for live scores of the match from around 3pm (AEDT) or at the completion of David Goffin versus Matthias Bachinger on Show Court 3 and don’t forget to add a comment below.
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