Nick Kyrgios admitted it wasn’t easy against Ariel Behar and Gonzalo Escobar but he was happy he and Thanasi Kokkinakis managed to get through to the Australian Open quarterfinal. After stunning No. 1 seeds Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic, Kyrgios and Kokkinakis beat Behar and Escobar 6-4 4-6 6-4.
“These guys were tough. They served well, it was incredibly tough to get any rhythm on return,” Kyrgios said after the match, per Tennis Australia. Kokkinakis said he and Kyrgios want to win but also to put on a show for the crowd.
“We’ve been through a lot together. We play for fun, but coming out here we want to impress you guys,” Kokkinakis said. “Having this support and the atmosphere is unbelievable”.
Kyrgios, Kokkinakis aim the title
Kyrgios and Kokkinakis play next Tim Puetz and Michael Venus.
“I definitely think we’ve got a good shot at winning this,” Kyrgios said. After beating Mektic and Pavic, Kyrgios said his opponents coach and trainer threatened to fight him in the gym. « Just letting you know after yesterday’s chop fest in doubles my opponents coach and trainer proceeded to threaten to fight in the players gym.
Tennis is a soft soft sport @TKokkinakis all because I moved and hit them with a tennis ball, » Kyrgios tweeted. Kyrgios and Kokkinakis received a massive support during their match against Mektic and Pavic. After the match, Pavic said it wouldn’t hurt the Australian crowd to show respect to other players.
« Yeah, it’s loud. They are pretty loud. Obviously they cheer for Aussies, » Pavic said, per Wide World of Sports. « It wouldn’t hurt them to show some respect to all opponents, to other players. « We saw yesterday also with Medvedev how it was.
« So, yeah, I mean, that’s how they are here. We’re used to that. But like I said, yeah, it wouldn’t hurt them to show some respect. » It remains to be seen how far can Kyrgios and Kokkinakis go in Melbourne.
