Thanasi Kokkinakis harks back to brutal Australian Open loss against Andy Murray after similar defeat to Hubert Hurkacz at Miami Open 2023
Thanasi Kokkinakis drew parallels between his heartbreaking losses to Andy Murray and Hubert Hurkacz during his 2023 season.
At the Australian Open, Murray battled back from a two-set deficit to defeat Kokkinakis 4-6, 6-7(4), 7-6(5), 6-3, 7-5 after a grueling five hours and 45 minutes. The Australian was only one game away from victory in the third set when Murray mounted his comeback and snatched the contest away from him.
Following that defeat, Kokkinakis took to social media and said:
"This f**king sport man....."
This fucking sport man…..😔
At the 2023 Miami Open, Kokkinakis made his way through the qualifiers to book his spot in the second round, where he was up against eighth seed Hurkacz. The pair engaged in a remarkably evenly matched encounter, with the Australian coming out on top in the first set tiebreak.
Kokkinakis squandered away three match points in the second set tiebreak, which allowed the Pole to get back on level terms. In the third set, the pair again battled in a tiebreak to determine the outcome of the match.
The Australian had two match points as he served for the match at 6-4. However, Hurkacz's return winner shifted the momentum in his favor and he went on to win the clash 6-7(10), 7-6(7), 7-6(6).
Following the disappointing defeat, Kokkinakis echoed his sentiments from his loss against Murray in Australia.
"Retweet," he tweeted.
twitter.com/tkokkinakis/st…Retweet😶 twitter.com/tkokkinakis/st…
Hubert Hurkacz and Thanasi Kokkinakis set record for longest three-set match of 2023
Thanasi Kokkinakis and Hubert Hurkacz's match at the 2023 Miami Open lasted three hours and 31 minutes, dethroning the Mexican Open semifinal between Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz as the longest best-of-three match of the season.
Following his win, Hurkacz acknowledged that both he and Kokkinakis played well, and added that he stayed focused on staying competitive and playing good shots. The Pole stated that he would have been content with his performance regardless of the outcome of the match.
“It’s tough to explain for me. I knew I was playing good tennis, I mean Thanasi [was] as well. I was just trying to stay in there and compete, play some good shots. Either way, if I won or I lost — obviously I wanted to win so, so much — but either way [I] should have been happy with myself,” he said in the post-match interview.
Hubert Hurkacz will take on Adrian Mannarino in the third round of the 2023 Miami Open. The pair have faced each other three times on the ATP Tour, with Hurkacz winning two of those encounters.