Google News ATP Finals: Nick Kyrgios, Thanasi Kokkinakis stay alive with hard-fought win
by DZEVAD MESIC | VIEW 5308
Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis have secured their first-ever ATP Finals win after beating Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek 3-6 6-4 10-6. After losing their first Round Robin match, Kyrgios and Kokkinakis entered their second match knowing they needed to win in order to still have a chance to qualify for the semifinal.
Kyrgios and Kokkinakis got off to a very slow start to the match as they quickly fell 3-0 behind as Dodig and Krajicek held on to their serve after claiming an early break. Down by a set, Kyrgios and Kokkinakis faced a break point on their serve in the ninth game of the second set but they were able to save it and go 5-4 up in the set.
After saving a break point, Kyrgios and Kokkinakis earned their first break of the match in the 10th game - when Dodig and Krajicek were serving to stay in the second set. Dodig and Krajicek bounced back after losing the second set as they opened a 5-1 lead in the match tie-break.
Down by four points, Kyrgios and Kokkinakis responded by winning the next six points to overturn the deficit and take a 7-5 lead. Kyrgios and Kokkinakis then also won three of the next four points to complete a comeback win.
Kyrgios, Kokkinakis on their win
After they claimed a three-set win, Kyrgios admitted he knew that with a loss their Turin campaign would have been over. “I was thinking to myself, 'If we lose today, we [would be] out of the whole event, so I am going to go out and there and do what I can do'
We are the pair that is able to do that pretty much every time we play, so why don’t we use that to our advantage. The crowd was amazing and they got us over the line," Kyrgios said. Meanwhile, Kokkinakis thanked the crowd for helping him and Kyrgios get over the top.
“It is a good energy and it lifted me. I started playing my best tennis after [Kyrgios] lifted [the crowd]. That is how we found it in Australia. So we loved it," Kokkinakis added. In their Round Robin finale, Kyrgios and Kokkinakis play Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic