Home hope Thanasi Kokkinakis upset the top-seeded Andrey Rublev 6-4 3-6 6-3 in the second round at the ATP Adelaide International on Wednesday. The match lasted for almost two hours with the Australian, currently ranked ranked 110th in the world, delivering one of his best performances in recent years to get the better of Rublev. The Russian displayed plenty of fight, but was ultimately overpowered by Kokkinakis, who will take on Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic in the quarterfinals on Thursday. But what were the keys to Kokkinakis’ win?
#1 Kokkinakis’ booming serves puts Rublev on the back foot:
Kokkinakis served well throughout the match, with the speed of his first serve regularly breaching the 200kph mark. On one occasion in the first set, Kokkinakis fired a serve that touched 211kph mark (131mph). Rublev found it difficult to deal with the heat Kokkinakis was generating from his first delivery, particularly in the first set, with Kokkinakis’ cross-court forehand also causing Rublev some real problems.
Kokkinakis made the early pressure tell by breaking Rublev in the third game of the opening set and he held comfortably thereafter to wrap up the first set, with his powerful game looking perfectly suited to the quick conditions at the Memorial Drive Tennis Centre in Adelaide.
#2 Kokkinakis holds firm to in the decider
Rublev bounced back in a resounding manner in the second set, taking the attack to Kokkinakis to deny him time on the ball. Rublev enjoyed great success with his inside-out forehand, surely the most effective weapon in his arsenal, with Kokkinakis struggling to defend out of his backhand corner. He managed to break Kokkinakis for the first time in the match, to love no less, in the third game of the second set and managed to hold his serve for the rest of the set to draw level.
But he could not maintain that momentum in the decider. Kokkinakis once again succeeded in taking an early lead by breaking the Russian, rifling a powerful backhand down the line to make what proved to be the decisive move. Kokkinakis did come under pressure when serving for the set, but despite trailing 0-30 he was able to see the game, and the match, out as two aces sealed a well-deserved victory. The Australian fired 17 aces in the match, won a staggering 89% of the points on his first serve and will surely head into the quarterfinals with real confidence.
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