Kyrgios & Kokkinakis bagel Bolelli & Fognini on their way to R2 in Cincinnati
ATP
Good friends Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis teamed up at the 2022 Cincinnati Masters for some doubles tennis, and they started in style, beating Fabio Fognini and Simone Bolelli.
Kyrgios and Kokkinakis essentially grew up together on the court and are very good friends. That chemistry is really palpable whenever they’re around each other, and it surely translates to the courts as well.
They showed off how good it can be earlier this year when they signed up to play at the Australian Open together. They played fantastic tennis, going all the way to the final, where they beat fellow Australians Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell to lift the trophy.
They played a few times since then this year and managed to succeed again. The best outing they had was not too long ago in Atlanta, where they went all the way again to win the trophy.
After that solid experience, the duo signed up for more doubles at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Cincinnati, and their campaign started well. Their first match in Cincinnati was against the Italian duo of Fabio Fognini and Simone Bolelli.
It was a crazy opening set as they bageled the Italians in only 22 minutes. The second set required a bit more effort from the Australians, but they still won it 6-4, setting up a second-round clash with the first-seeded Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury.
It was an unbelievably good match from the duo, who are likely sharpening their skills for the upcoming US Open. It’s widely expected that they will play together there as well.
They are also rumored to participate in the ATP Finals in Turin later this year, as they qualified thanks to winning the first Grand Slam of the season.
At the moment, they’re on a five-match winning streak, and with that type of form, they could possibly go all the way also in Cincinnati. Both love the conditions in the city as their serves do plenty of damage.
