Thanasi Kokkinakis has secured one of the biggest wins of his career, ousting Russia’s Andrey Rublev at the Adelaide International 2, but not before a fiery clash with a chair umpire.
Kokkinakis continued his impressive summer, beating Rublev, the tournament’s No.1 seed 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to advance.
The Aussie’s temper boiled over in the opening set when he was hit with a time violation while serving for the set.
READ MORE: Djokovic reveals truth about injury ‘scare’
EXCLUSIVE: Rafa ‘fighting against instincts’ to stay relevant
EXCLUSIVE: Australia’s Ash Barty heir finally ‘believes’
Kokkinakis took his time to serve as he tried to calm the raucous courtside crowd who reacted to Rublev’s outburst.
After being pinged for waiting, Kokkinakis offered Egyptian chair umpire Adel Nour some terse words in the process.
Watch the Adelaide International 2, live and exclusive on 9Now and Stan Sport
“No no no no no, that’s a s–t call,” he yelled.
“What are you doing? I’m waiting for them to quiet down.
“What do you mean, ‘How do you know?’ Are you hearing how loud that is? I’m waiting for them to stop jeering.
“That’s a terrible call. What are you doing? You’re just trying to get involved.
“I’m waiting for them to stop. I was literally telling them to stop booing and now you’re giving me a time violation for that.”
Match Highlights: Andrey Rublev v Thanasi Kokkinakis
Rublev’s level lifted in the second set, with Kokkinakis perhaps still rattled by his run-in with Nour, but the Aussie recovered brilliantly in the deciding set.
Kokkinakis broke Rublev early and never looked back, calmly serving out the match to set up a meeting with Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic in the next round.
The 26-year-old credited his aces – totalling 18 – for the strong performance.
“It’s a big part of my game,” he said.
“If I’m serving well I feel like I have a chance to beat a lot of guys.
“Especially when the new balls came. I tried to take a little bit of pace off my serve and really try and land it and hit a spot. Fortunately, there were a few unreturnables.”
For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!
How well do you remember the biggest sporting moments of 2022?
