Aussie larrikins Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis have become the great entertainers of the 2022 Australian Open.
The pair cruised to the fourth round of the men’s doubles draw by downing Ariel Behar and Gonzalo Escobar 6-4 4-6 6-4 on Kia Arena this afternoon.
The crowd was huge in comparison to other doubles matches, and they were without a doubt there to watch team Special K in action again.
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After the victory, Kyrgios and Kokkinakis gave one of the best on-court interviews of the Open to date.
Kyrgios was asked, “not easy to pick apart these established doubles teams?”, to which he jokingly replied, “I mean… it’s been pretty easy”.
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The crowd lapped it up, before Kyrgios switched to serious mode.
“Today these guys were tough, they served well, it was incredibly tough to get any rhythm on their return,” Kyrgios said.
“The energy with Thanasi, it’s just always a pleasure to play with you brother. The atmosphere is insane.”
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The Australian talents have been playing doubles together since they were young, and won a junior title together as teenagers.
“I’ve known the big fella since he was a chubby kid from Canberra,” Kokkinakis said.
“He’s slim and looks good now. But we’ve been through a lot together.
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“But this, coming out here, we play for fun but we want to impress you guys and having this support is… the atmosphere is unbelievable.”
Kyrgios lauded the crowd at Kia Arena, which helped lift the Aussies to victory.
“We both lost early in singles, but to come out here and have this atmosphere for a doubles match is insane,” he said.
“You don’t get that anywhere else in the world.”
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