A-O, K! Doubles the future for Kyrgios and Kokkinakis after fairytale Aus Open win

Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis’ fairytale Australian Open run has ended in glory, the pair capping off an extraordinary fortnight at Melbourne Park with a 7-5, 6-4 win over fellow Australians Matt Ebden and Max Purcell to claim the men’s doubles title.

The so-called ‘Special Ks’, who have reinvigorated public interest in the doubles event with their antics – and those of their fans – at this Open, failed to concede so much as a break point, with a single break of serve in either set enough for victory.

They are the first all-Australian pair to claim the title in Melbourne since the legendary ‘Woodies’ pair of Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde saluted in 1997.

Had most pundits been informed of a Kyrgios and Kokkinakis run through to the second week at the Australian Open, a freakish run through the singles for both of them would have been the more common prediction. But after both crashed out in the second and first rounds respectively, their union in the doubles has produced some of the tournament’s most must-watch matches.

Beyond the raucous crowds they’ve attracted and the exuberance of their performances, though, is the attention and hype they’ve brought to doubles, long the unloved little brother to the singles draws, and even relegated to third tier at times by Dylan Alcott’s heroics in the wheelchair event in recent years.

The impact on both the victors this tournament, neither of whom have as yet lived up to their seemingly limitless potential in the singles as juniors, has been invigorating. Kyrgios, in particular, has seldom looked as invested and engaged as he has standing alongside close mate Kokkinakis throughout the past fortnight.

While his presence in the doubles hasn’t lessened the coverage and scrutiny that follows him across the globe – instead serving to lift the often-unloved doubles side of the Open into the limelight in Australia for the first time since the ‘Woodies’ themselves – the usual instances of frustrated racquet-smashing, umpire abuse and general unsavoury acts have been well down (though they could never be entirely eradicated) with Kokkinakis as his partner.

Perhaps that’s due to the nature of doubles, by definition the less self-centred of tennis pursuits. Even Kyrgios himself admitted as much after the win, telling Woodbridge in an interview on Nine he’s ‘never been so professional’ as he has been for this tournament.

“This week, honestly it’s been insane… I was waking up at 7am, practicing at 8:30,” he revealed.

“When I’m playing for someone else, my effort’s always there. Obviously at times in my career, I’ve been a bit ‘is he present or not?’

“I’m just so happy.”

After the palatable intensity of Ashleigh Barty’s earlier women’s final triumph, the change in tone was apparent even before the start, Kyrgios cheekily squirting water through the legs of a security guard to sum up the way he has approached his run through the doubles tournament.

A change, too, was evident in the crowd; partisan but largely restrained for Barty’s clash with Danielle Collins, the first ‘Siuuuuu’ chant took just minutes to break out around Rod Laver Arena, and were a constant presence from then on.

Despite raging at the crowd for excessive noise during his and Kokkinakis’ semi-final win on Thursday, Kyrgios was only too keen to hardness the energy from the stands.

“He is starting to fire up the crowd,” former Australian tennis pro Sam Groth said in commentary for Nine.

“He is really trying to turn them around and get them on their side.”

Strength on serve had been a cornerstone behind both pairs’ run to the final, and so it was again in the decider. It took until the eleventh game of the opening set for Kyrgios and Kokkinakis to earn the first break points; even then, they’d need four chances to convert as Purcell’s brilliance at the net held them up time and again.

Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis celebrate winning the Australian Open men’s doubles final. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)

Eventually, a netted Ebden volley saw the ‘Special Ks’ break for a 6-5 lead; Kokkinakis then calmly serving out the set as the crowd again made their presence known.

Todd Woodbridge, commentating for Nine, wasn’t impressed by Ebden and Purcell’s efforts in the closing stages, one particular attempt from the latter to blast a return right at Kyrgios backfiring to draw the ire of one of the two ‘Woodies’.

That was silly. It was a great return, and Max tried to line Kyrgios up. He is not going to win that argument tonight,” Woodbridge said.

“Max, just keep playing it straight.”

Having twice in their earlier matches at the tournament clawed back from a first set loss to win, Ebden and Purcell were far from out of the contest. The former, a veteran of the doubles circuit, wasn’t shy to show of his own bag of tricks, pulling off a Kyrgios-esque ‘tweener’ to begin the second set, then demanding the crowd’s applause after he and Purcell claimed the point as a Kokkinakis lob drifted wide.

Good as the shot was, it wouldn’t be enough to dent Kyrgios and Kokkinakis’ impregnability on serve. Eventually, the Purcell-Ebden combination would be the first to crack, a series of unforced errors at the net allowing the ‘Special Ks’ to break to love for a 4-3 lead.

Perhaps sensing their chance ebbing away, Ebden and Purcell would finally scrounge their way into the next service game. But at 30-30, the taste of victory was in the leading pair’s mouths, keeping their noses in front throughout the game to deny so much as a break point chance.

As Ebden, who battled all night up at the net, shanked a volley, a wrong-footed Kokkinakis fell to the ground; Kyrgios’ sprint to rescue his stricken comrade as much effort as he’s put into many a soul-crushing singles performance in years gone by.

At 5-3, and on the brink of victory, the pair’s excitement was palpable, yet restrained.

“They’ve been serious… they haven’t gone over the top,” said Groth.

“They have been locked in.”

While interruptions from the crowd pockmarked the opening few sets, it took until the death for things to come to a head. A particularly raucuous series of cries finally broke the camel’s back for Ebden and Purcell, leading to a tense exchange with chair umpire Damian Dumusois.

“That was the biggest yell ever as I did my serve,” Purcell fumed, with even Kokkinakis and Kyrgios unimpressed.

“Get ’em out!” Kyrgios yelled, with his wish soon answered, the unruly fan evicted.

“One or two spectators are totally ruining the game,” Dumusois said to the crowd; perhaps a generous laying of the blame.

Undeterred by the drama, Purcell and Ebden would ask the question of Kyrgios and Kokkinakis by holding, a mighty Purcell serve to save championship point summing up a night on which he could hardly have done more.

But Kyrgios’ booming serve, completed by a Kokkinakis volley on match point for the winner, was enough to close the deal.

“They have absolutely lit Melbourne Park up for two weeks,” gushed Groth. He wasn’t wrong.

If you expected Kyrgios to play a straight bat in his victory speech, you clearly don’t know him very well.

“I know this big boy’s going to be out tonight, so ladies, let’s go!” he joked, delighting the crowd and leaving Kokkinakis red-faced.

“I’ve got to stop now, I’ve crossed the line,” he’d add. In many ways, it was a fitting conclusion to the pair’s doubles run: totally out of sync with the usual conventions of tennis, but utterly captivating because of it.