Kokkinakis has a special K relationship with WWE, who famously celebrated his 2022 Australian Open men’s doubles win by presenting Kokkinakis and partner Nick Kyrgios with custom championship belts.
“Someone put me through a table already,” Kokkinakis joked upon receiving the present ahead of that year’s Miami Open.
The 28-year-old Adelaide native will hope to draw even more crowd support during a blockbuster quarterfinal clash with No. 2 seed Sebastian Korda, who won all three matches against Kokkinakis—including a near-miss at the Mubadala Citi DC Open last summer.
“I had match points on him in Washington and he shanked a ball past me on the line and won the match and the tournament,” said Kokkinakis, currently ranked No. 77 on the ATP rankings. “So, that one I still kind of got demons about, to be honest.”
Korda and Adelaide’s top seed Tommy Paul both advanced through their second-round matches earlier in the afternoon, Korda easing past Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, 6-3, 6-3, while Paul shook off a second-set hiccup to defeat Manuel Guinard, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
