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Thanasi Kokkinakis

168K views 1K replies 86 participants last post by  Sombrerero loco 
#1 ·
Turns 15 in two days but this week managed to get a win in the Maindraw of the Bundaberg Futures Tournament as a wildcard and then reportedly gave Michael Venus big struggles in the first set of their match. I don't know how many/if any 1995 kids currently have a seniors rank let alone those born in 1996.

This is his profile off Tennis Australia.

Thanasi Kokkinakis made solid progress in 2010. In May he was a member of the Australian team that finished top of its pool in the Asia–Oceania qualifying event for the ITF World Junior Tennis Competition. In the finals the team finished seventh.

The right-hander, who took up tennis when he was eight years old, continued to improve in 2010 showing good form at both home and abroad.

A member of the Adelaide National Academy, Thanasi is coached by Todd Langman and Brod ****.

Thanasi says his career highlights to date are representing Australia in the World Junior Tennis Competition and winning European Young Stars events in Holland and Paris

His ambition is to be No.1 in the world and play Davis Cup for Australia. He says the most influential people on his career to date are his brother, parents and Langman, his first coach.

Thanasi’s favourite player is Frenchman Gael Monfils “because he is so entertaining”. The Year 9 Scotch College student’s favourite subjects are PE, Health and Tech and in his spare time he enjoys Playstation, watching TV and sleeping. He likes listening to techno, hip hop, R’n’B, Michael Jackson, David Guetta, and Ministry of Sound compilations. His favourite food is pizza and he also likes to play basketball.
 
#38 ·
He's obviously got time on his side, but he mustn't use that as an excuse not to keep working very hard. This is genuinely somebody who could be at least playing challengers full time by their 18th birthday, which is so unusual in the modern game. That's obviously assuming he keeps this up and improves on the futures circuit.
 
#39 ·
I've followed this kid since he was 13 and his results have always shown he was top 3 in the country for under 14s and 16s atleast but I think he is clear top for under 16s now! He looks as good as Ben Mitchell does and there's a three year age gap! Maybe 4? And to me he looks better than Tomic did at 16! The kid already has a bigger serve than Hewitt and ground strokes are real good and big! If he plays the junior Aussie open they might as well give him the title unless Krygios plays!
 
#41 ·
Gianluigi Quinzi made 3 or 4 straight futures semi-finals, and a finals, as well as having played in Junior Grandslam Semi-finals, and beat Kokkinakis at the Junior Davis Cup. I understand it'll be on home soil for Thanasi, but Quinzi has easily been the best kid in his age group in the world for a long time.
 
#40 ·
^Finally some decent bandwagoning. Kakkinakis was damn impressive. I think he was aided by recent practice with Verdasco and, ironically, little prep time. This saved him from getting nervous days in advance.

I guess he won't be able to play Sydney qualifying even if he gets a wildcard because he will be in Perth too long. :(
 
#46 ·
Kokkinakis was impressive, from the little part of the match I saw.
He has a big game and it will be interesting to see how it develops. Genuine potential but he still has plenty to work on and the competition is tough out there.
Good luck to him at the AO qualies.
 
#48 ·
Watching the match now vs Verdasco and he is very impressive. He hits his groundstrokes very hard, but he is able to play it with top-spin too. Big serve on both 1st and 2nd. Good slice. Very good movement and footwork for his height.

His only weakness seems to be the return.

He comfortably has more talent than any other Aussie boy since Bernie, maybe even more than him.
 
#52 ·
This match will test "Cocky". Johnson has performed well since leaving college and the crowd and nerves will play it's part. But hoping Kokkinakis can match him and get the win.
 
#63 ·
Finally got a chance to watch him play in an uploaded video of his match against Verdasco. He's by far the second most talented Aussie coming through after Tomic, and I don't think it's close. Have seen most of the other contenders play like Saville, Kyrgios etc, and while they clearly have more well rounded games, they don't have near as much natural talent IMO.

His serve is excellent for his age, and should be a massive weapon in a few years. Excellent groundies when on the attack also. At this point his problems look like a really poor return game and really poor defensive shots. I actually think his movement is ok in terms of speed (he's quicker than Tomic at the same age IMO), he just doesn't have particularly good anticipation, certainly nowhere near Tomic's. His defensive/rally shots are also often poor falling mid court and down the center.

The good news is a lot of that can be significantly improved with experience and physical development. And to go with the weapons he has a natural flair about his game that reminds a bit of a young Philippoussis.
 
#64 ·
I'm pretty sure his match is being streamed live tomorrow. Can't wait to watch him play juniors! :) Hope he can beat the seeded player.
 
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