Despite playing less doubles ATP events than any other team at the 2022 ATP Finals, Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis are considered to be dark horses of the tournament.
In their first match at the year-end competition, the Australian duo took on the first-seeded pair Wesley Koolhof and Neil Skupski. It was their first meeting as the Paris Masters champions wanted to continue their winning streak while Kyrgios and Kokkinakis played their first match since October.
The Special K's showed their incredible serving skills in the first set as they hit astonishing 15 aces. That helped them to avoid getting broken on four break points that their opponents had and eventually reach the tie-break.
In the tie-break, the Australians proved to be a better team as they won it 7-3 to get an early advantage. However, they couldn't keep up with the fast pace in the second set.
Koolhof and Skupski showed their doubles qualities and got an important break in the seventh game. They didn't lose their advantage then and won the second set 6-4 as the match was about to be decided in a match tie-break.
Despite hitting 86% of their first serves in the match tie-break, Kyrgios and Kokkinakis couldn't produce the same level on their serve as they did previously and eventually lost the match 7-6(3), 4-6, 5-10.
In their next match, the Special K's will meet Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic, and they will end the round-robin stage against Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek.
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