Thanasi Kokkinakis believes he can do what John Millman couldn’t and send Rafael Nadal packing from the US Open after digging deep to post his first main-draw win at a grand slam in more than four years.
Vindicating his wildcard entry, Kokkinakis slugged it out for almost four hours before finally putting away Belarusian qualifier Ilya Ivashka 6-3 7-6 (10-8) 6-7 (7-4) 6-2 on Tuesday night.
The emotional triumph, after a diabolical run with injuries, was Kokkinakis’s first success at a major since an epic five-set comeback win over Bernard Tomic at the 2015 French Open.
“It was a hell of a feeling,” Kokkinakis said.
“Obviously I feel like I’ve had a lot of my tennis career so far, to this point, taken away.
“I knew the first two sets, getting those under my belt was going to be big. Luckily I got the second set after I broke a string on set point.
“What are the odds? I’ve probably been playing for two hours and then on that point it breaks but, you know, that’s tennis. It’s definitely a massive relief.”
It was also the world No.203’s first victory at Flushing Meadows, having lost a sapping five-setter to Janko Tipsarevic two years ago and being forced to retire with cramps in the deciding set against Richard Gasquet in 2015.
His reward is a big one: a show-court blockbuster with three-times champion Nadal on Thursday after the Spaniard crushed Millman 6-3 6-2 6-2 in his opener.
“I give myself a chance for sure. It’s going to be tough – very physical but I’m ready for it,” Kokkinakis said.
“I know what he brings. I’ve seen him play enough, I hope. I’m going to play my game and see what happens.
“I’ve played a lot of lefties in my last tournament so just treat it like a better version of them.
“I’m going to give it a crack.”
Like Millman beat Federer in New York last year, Kokkinakis said he would draw on his career-defining win over the great Swiss in Miami in 2018 as inspiration for another upset against one of the sport’s living legends.
“I know I have the capabilities to beat these good players,” he said.
“I’m just going to go out there and treat it like any other match and play aggressive and play my game.
“I definitely think I can do some things. That’s kind of what’s kept me ticking.
“If I thought I had like a ceiling of maybe around 100 or 60 to 70 (in the world), if that’s where I was going to play, then maybe I would have hung up my racquets for sure.”
