ATP Tour

Kokkinakis: ‘I didn’t care if I never played again, I wasn’t doing that cycle anymore’

Thanasi Kokkinakis did not expect a first-round doubles match at the Brisbane International presented by ANZ could move him to tears.

But it did just that. The 29-year-old Australian, who underwent a radical and unprecedented pectoral surgery in February, is back competing on home soil in Brisbane, where he teamed with Nick Kyrgios to earn a three-set win over Matthew Ebden and Rajeev Ram.

“I've never really teared up from a doubles match, even when we won,” Kokkinakis said. “What I have gone through the past 12 months is crazy, speaking to a lot of surgeons, a lot of doctors. I spoke to Rafa's doctor and he wasn't quite sure what was going on. It was pretty crazy.”

For much of the past year, Kokkinakis had been trapped in a frustrating medical grey area. Chronic issues around his shoulder and chest left him in pain but without a clear diagnosis or treatment plan, forcing him to bounce between specialists while his season slipped away.

“No physio or doctor that I saw was really comfortable and confident of which was the right way to go,” he said. “But I said I didn't want to keep doing what I was doing. In the past I'd play one match and maybe have a big win, and my arm was shot for the next couple of rounds. I was almost like ‘I don't care if I don't play again, I'm not doing that again’, because it's almost like a tease of what I can do and then I just have to pull out.”

That cycle — flashes of form followed by forced withdrawals — ultimately pushed Kokkinakis toward a drastic decision. After years of managing damaged tissue, he agreed to undergo a surgery few tennis players had ever attempted.

“I essentially cut half my pec off,” explained the former No. 65 player in the PIF ATP Rankings. “I had a bald scar tissue that I was playing with for five or so years. I saw a bunch of surgeons that didn't want to operate on it. They thought it's risky, never been done in tennis. Essentially I have an Achilles allograft — or a dead person's Achilles — in my arm trying to attach my pec to my shoulder.”

The unprecedented nature of the procedure made the comeback process even more daunting. Unlike common knee or ankle injuries, there was no established route back in, no familiar timelines, and no peers who had walked the same path.

“It's really hard coming back from that process, because you don't really have anyone to speak to because no one's done it,” said Kokkinakis. “A lot of people do ACLs and Achilles ruptures, which are brutal, terrible injuries. But with those, a lot of people have had them, so you know who to speak to and what to do.”

Even reaching the start line in Brisbane required careful management. Kokkinakis acknowledged that simply being fit enough to contest doubles felt like a milestone after months of stop-start progress.

Throughout the long rehabilitation, the Australian summer remained his motivation. Kokkinakis has fond memories of this period, having won his sole ATP Tour title in 2022 in Adelaide, the city where he was born.

“There's a lot of unknowns, but I have just done a lot of training to try and get myself in a position where I can even play a doubles match,” Kokkinakis said. “It's been very stop/start. I don't know how my future is going to go, what it holds, but I've done everything I can to give myself at least a chance. I'm taking it day by day.”

The Aussie endured isolated winter training sessions in Melbourne with the vision of returning to court in front of home fans.

“I was so sick of training, and just being in Melbourne in the winter with no one to really train with and trying to motivate myself for the Aussie summer,” Kokkinakis said. “That was always the carrot at the end, just trying to look forward to that moment, not knowing if I can actually play.

“Just doing everything I can. Endless injections, cortisones, trying to get myself to a spot where I can take the court. It's a feeling that is very hard to replicate. I'm not taking it for granted, and I know that's what I will miss the most when eventually I stop playing.

“All my rehab and everything I was doing was focused on trying to get back in front of a crowd in Australia and being competitive. So I'm really, really happy.”