Kokkinakis and Kyrgios Win Doubles at Australian Open

Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios, both Greek-Australian, won the men’s doubles at the Australian Open on Saturday.

The two players, called the “Special Ks,” beat Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell, who are also Australians, with scores of 7-5 and 6-4.

Kokkinakis and Kyrgios win big at Australian Open

“This week has been a dream come true for me. I wouldn’t want to do it with anyone else,” Kyrgios, who had Covid-19 a week before the Open, stated on Saturday.

Kokkinakis shared similar sentiments after the win, saying: “Nick, I love you brother. I can honestly say we did not expect to even come close to this but the coverage we’ve got, the support for us, we couldn’t ask for anything more.”

The pair are known for their popular on-court antics, including when Kyrgios gave a racquet to a boy he accidentally hit while playing earlier in the match.

Kyrgios, who is 26, was born in Australia to a Greek father and a Malaysian mother. He has a career high of 13 in the singles ATP ratings.

Kokkinakis, aged 25, is the son of Greek immigrants from the Peloponnese.

The win is the first for the pair as adult players. In 2013, Kyrgios and Kokkinakis tooko home the trophy at the Wimbledon boys’ doubles.

Tsitsipas out of final

Stefanos Tsitsipas, Greek tennis champion, had his dreams of an Australian Open final crushed after being defeated by Russian player Daniil Medvedev on Friday.

Medvedev is known as an incredibly challenging player to counter, as he is known for his power and speed.

The Greek champion faced a rematch of last year’s Aussie Open semi-final against Daniil Medvedev after the Russian beat Felix Auger-Aliassime on Wednesday.

Medvedev, who went on to win the match, was fined a whopping AU$17,000 after an outburst directed at the chair umpire during the semifinal.

The Russian player, annoyed at Tsitsipas’s coach, who is also his father, allegedly speaking to the player in Greek, screamed at the umpire.

“Are you mad? Are you mad?” he screamed at the umpire. “His father can coach every point? Are you stupid? His father can talk every point? His father can talk every point?”

In a conference after the match, Medvedev explained that he heard Tsitsipas’s coach speaking to the Greek player in their native language, which neither he nor the umpire understood, so it was impossible to know if he was coaching or not.

The Russian was fined for unsportsmanlike conduct and obscenity. Tsitsipas, for his part, was also fined, albeit less. He received a fine of AU$7,000 for coaching.

Tsitspas and Medvedev have a long-brewing rivalry. When asked about his competitor’s behavior during the match, the Greek said that it may have been a tactic to throw him off his game, and that Medvedev “is not the most mature person anyways.”