After the disappointing exit from the 2023 Roland Garros, Thanasi Kokkinakis has decided to address his injury.
In the world of tennis, the trajectory of a player's career can often be dictated by their physical condition and that has been surely the case for Thanasi Kokkinakis who has decided to address on of the issues.
The 27-year-old is now considering a surgical intervention to address this persistent issue that has been hindering his potential after reaching the third round of the 2023 Roland Garros and losing in a four-set match to Karen Khachanov.
Kokkinakis has had a promising career marred by injuries, but it's his current pectoral problem that is causing the most concern. This injury, which first occurred in 2019, has a significant impact on his ability to perform at the top level.
"It's just the same rupture I've had since 2019. I did it so bad that it's tough for me to progress a little bit when I try to back up some deep matches. I know I'm going to be sore in my legs. I know I'm going to have little aches, stuff like that. But it's just the one injury that ... stops me a little bit."
The pectoral muscles are large, fan-shaped muscles extending from each shoulder to the breastbone, primarily controlling arm movement. In tennis, players activate the "kinetic chain," transferring energy from the legs to the torso, through the shoulder, down the arm, and through to the racquet.
Any disruption or weakness along this chain can overload another part of the chain, leading to injury. In Kokkinakis' case, it is the pectoral muscle that has been affected and he feels it especially after third or fourth consecutive match.
"I'm going to get a little bit of other advice, maybe some surgical stuff, and see what the result is, because I'm always limited a little bit when I try and back up matches. It is probably not the first or second match, but it's sort of third and fourth onwards kind of affects me a lot."
The third-round match against the 11th-seeded Khachanov was surely one that the Australian could have won and so after the loss, he had a moment of reflection, knowing that big points that he lost mattered.
"I think you've got to think about it, to try and realise what went wrong and how to deal with that the next time around. It's the same way I've lost big points. Me being kind of ultra-aggressive and trying to not let my opponent dictate, because I don't want them to dictate on the big points."
Kokkinakis is one of the players that like to dictate the game and hit a lot of winners. As he puts it, he 'wants to have it on his own racquet', but needs to pay attention to not pushing too hard and making too many unforced errors.
"I want to have it in my own racquet. But then there's the balance of trying to over-press. So that's the tricky part. But I'll definitely speak to them and decompress a little bit. (I'm) not going to let it linger too much."
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