"Oh, no, Kokkinakis. Where is Kyrgios?" - Kokkinakis on disappointed fans in Turin
ATP
Thanasi Kokkinakis shared a hilarious story with fans at the 2022 ATP Finals. It seems that some were disappointed when they saw him instead of his doubles partner, Nick Kyrgios.
Kyrgios and Kokkinakis qualified for the 2022 ATP Finals thanks to their success at the first Grand Slam of this season. The Special K's won the Australian Open, which guaranteed them a spot in Turin.
Although the Australian duo lost their opening match in Turin to Wesley Koolhof and Neil Skupski, they still enjoy being among the best doubles teams in the world. Speaking after the loss, Kokkinakis admitted that he was impressed by the level of the competition.
"It's been a cool experience. Obviously everything is A1 here. You're a select few. Everyone deserves to be here. You're playing against quality players. So it's the best of the best. It’s been awesome."
The Australian also shared a funny story with the fans in the Italian city. His doubles partner is one of the most liked players on the ATP Tour, which is why many fans want to meet him, and sometimes maybe feel disappointed when they see Kokkinakis instead. Luckily, he saw the funny side of it.
"[In] Turin, you can tell the fans really love it. They're stacked outside the hotel just waiting for the big guys to come through. Then they have their phone out. They see me roll up, and you just hear this sigh of disappointment when I roll in. ‘Oh, no, Kokkinakis. Where is Kyrgios?'"
Kyrgios has been enjoying his time in Turin as well. The Australian player enjoys playing alongside Kokkinakis, and he's proud of their efforts.
"It's been good. Me and Thanasi never thought we were going to be here. We always thought we could do some good things together, but to put a year [together] consistently like this, and we didn't even play, we played maybe six or seven events or something, so...Yeah, the experience has been cool."
