MELBOURNE, Australia, January 16, 2025 – Thanasi Kokkinakis said a doctor “advised me not to play” before his and Nick Kyrgios’ Australian Open men’s doubles return was cut short by injury.
The 2022 champions, nicknamed the ‘Special Ks’, were 7-5 3-2 down in the first round against fellow Australians James Duckworth and Aleksandar Vukic when they retired.
Kyrgios said on Monday that he “can’t see myself playing singles” again at Melbourne Park after he was knocked out in the first round by Britain’s Jacob Fearnley.
Former Wimbledon finalist Kyrgios, making his first appearance at the Australian Open since 2022, struggled with an abdominal injury against Fearnley.
Kokkinakis was hampered by a shoulder problem in his singles defeat by British number one Jack Draper.
“Doctor advised me not to play. I’m going to need to do a serious procedure now probably,” Kokkinakis said after the doubles defeat.
“I’m in a lot of pain. I wanted to come out here. I know there was a lot of talk about us playing again.
“I wanted to get on court again with the big fella – we have such great memories and we had a big crowd waiting for us. Any other event, any other circumstances, I’m not stepping on court.”
Salisbury and Skupski lead British success
Britain’s Joe Salisbury and Neal Skuski beat Argentina’s Sebastian Baez and Francisco Comesana 7-6 (7-1) 6-4 in the first round.
The 10th seeds are playing their first major together since Salisbury split with long-time partner Rajeev Ram after winning four Grand Slam titles, including the 2020 Australian Open, with the American.
Henry Patten and Finland’s Harri Heliovaara, the Wimbledon champions, beat India’s Rithvik Choudary Bollipalli and American Ryan Seggerman 7-6 (7-5) 6-1.
Luke Johnson won alongside Dutchman Sander Arends against Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta and Sergio Martos Gornes.
In the women’s doubles, Britain’s Harriet Dart and France’s Diane Parry beat Britain’s Heather Watson and Czech Linda Noskova 6-3 7-5.
Olivia Nicholls and Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova were knocked out by Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko and Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei, the third seeds, while Tara Moore and Austria’s Julia Grabher lost to Americans Sabrina Santamaria and Bernarda Pera.
Lloyd Glasspool and Russian Alexandra Panova clinched a 6-4 1-6 10-8 victory over Belgian Joran Vliegen and Spaniard Cristina Bucsa in the mixed doubles, but Jamie Murray and American Bethanie Mattek-Sands fell to a 6-3 3-6 11-9 defeat by Australia’s Alex Bolt and Priscilla Hon.
