Thanasi Kokkinakis staged an unexpected comeback to progress to the third round at Roland Garros for the first time in yet another five set epic, as countryman Alex de Minaur also advanced on another rainy day Paris.
While wet weather disrupted the schedule as organisers looked to make up for lost time, it seemed to help a slow-starting Kokkinakis, who dropped the first two sets against Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri before rallying to a 1-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-2 victory.
The start time for Kokkinakis’ match against the Italian was pushed back until after 6pm and then both players endured a delay of over an hour, giving the Aussie some time to regather himself.
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Having been stretched by fellow Aussie Alexei Popyrin in a four-hour-and-24-minute clash in the opening round, the break worked a treat for Kokkinakis, as he embarked on another astonishing attempt to get back into the match.
Kokkinakis won the third set 6-3 and a fourth set tiebreak 7-5, but not before some drama.
At 5-all in the tiebreaker, Kokkinakis had some choice words for an Italian fan who hissed at him, after his opponent’s fatigue became apparent when he netted a simple bounce smash into the next.
It was a let off for Kokkinakis, who had given up on the point and turned to the crowd as he prepared to hit a second serve.
On-court microphones caught the Aussie yelling “which of you wankers” as he confronted the spectator, but he cheekily denied he said anything of the sort.
“That does not sound like something I would say,” Kokkinakis said with a smile during his press conference.
“There was a dude in the crowd who started hissing and I told him I was not too pleased with him, very politely.”
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The South Australian then raced to a 4-1 lead in the final frame as his opponent’s body began to break down with cramp.
But he gave the left-hander a chance to stage a comeback of his own, going down 15-40 in the seventh game. Although, Zeppieri could not convert and Kokkinakis hung in there to later break serve, to wrap up the match in three hours and 45 minutes. He will play big serving American star Taylor Fritz next.
“I’m going to get out there and do some doubles drills in the morning and make sure I’m ready to go,” Kokkinakis joked.
“Honestly, I’m just going to spend time on the physio table and (at the) cafe and I’ll just put all these anti-inflams (anti-inflammatories) in my system and hope for the best.”
As for de Minaur, his match against Jamie Munar was also impacted by rain with the top ranked Australian leading 7-5, 2-1 when play was suspended, in what was the third rain interruption of day five.
The 11th-seed eventually got back on court and took the match 7-5, 6-1, 6-4 in two hours and 11 minutes to progress to the round of 32 for the first time.
“It feels great. Ultimately, it’s something that I’ve always thought that I was gonna be able to achieve in my career,” de Minaur said of the milestone.
“I thought there’s no reason why I can’t do it, so it’s just good to finally be able to be in the third round and keep on going, because ultimately, my goal is not to make the third round, it’s to go for bigger and better things.
“And I’m just keeping myself alive and ready for the next round.”
De Minaur will meet 41st-ranked Jan-Lennard Struff in the next round, after the veteran defeated 19th seed Alexander Bublik 6-2, 6-2, 6-3.