Aussie tennis stars Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis are through to the quarter finals in the men’s doubles at the Australian Open after an epic three-set thriller.
The pair defeated Gonzalo Escobar and Ariel Behar 6-4 4-6 6-4 in front of a packed arena at Melbourne Park , just two days after causing a huge upset against the top seed Croatians Nikola Mektić and Mate Pavić.
It was the first time the Aussie duo had dropped a set during the Grand Slam.
Kyrgios and Kokkinakis’ post-match celebrations brought roars from the delighted crowd as Kyrgios’ new girlfriend Costeen Hatzi proudly watched on.
The post-match interview was almost as entertaining as the match itself.
‘Oh man, that was pretty easy,’ Kyrgios joked afterwards.
‘These guys were tough. They served well, it was incredibly tough to get any rhythm on their return but the energy of Thanasi… it’s just a pleasure to play with you brother.’
The pair paid tribute to the crowd which spurred them to victory.
‘The atmosphere was insane, you guys were unreal,’ Kyrgios said.
Kokkinakis added: ‘We play for fun but coming out here, we want to impress you guys.
‘The atmosphere was unbelievable and the feeling we get when we walk through that tunnel, I was looking up at the stands before we’d even walked onto court and you can’t not get up for matches like this.’
The pair also looked back on their long-standing bromance which goes back to playing doubles together on the junior circuit in 2013, including a grand slam juniors title at Wimbledon.
‘I’ve known the big fella since he was a chubby kid from Canberra,’ Kokkinakis said.
‘We’ve been through a lot together.’
They will now take on sixth-seeded pair Tim Puetz and Michael Venus on Tuesday for a possible spot in the final four of the men’s doubles.
