Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis suffered a 6-0, 1-6, 10-6 defeat to French duo Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul in the Brisbane International doubles round of 16. The loss came despite a spirited fightback from the Australian pair, who entertained the Pat Rafter Arena crowd with their antics and encouragement.
Kyrgios, who acted as a motivational speaker and part-time masseur during the match, tried to lift Kokkinakis after a disastrous first set. “When we overthink things, it’s not us,” Kyrgios told his partner. “We play on instinct, then we feel it. Just play on instinct.” The duo rebounded to win the second set 6-1, but could not recover from an 0-5 deficit in the match tiebreak.
The defeat leaves Australian Open officials with a decision on whether to award Kyrgios one of the remaining singles wildcards for the first major of the year. Kyrgios, a former Wimbledon finalist, showed his leadership qualities by encouraging Kokkinakis and even giving him a massage for a sore neck during the second set.
Kyrgios and Kokkinakis, known as the Special Ks, won the Australian Open doubles title in 2022 but have been plagued by injuries since. They started the Brisbane International with a shock three-set win over grand slam champions Matt Ebden and Rajeev Ram.
Reboul praised the Australians after the match, saying: “A little word for Kokkinakis and Kyrgios – they’ve had a lot of injuries, so very happy to see them in the tournament again, and I hope we will have many other battles.”
