Thanasi Kokkinakis is still coming to terms with the repercussions of his fearless performance.
Although the full extent remains uncertain, Kokkinakis is bracing for a rough aftermath.
“I have a sense of what tomorrow holds for me—and it’s not something I’m looking forward to,” the Australian athlete remarked following his remarkable first-round victory at the Adelaide International. During the match, he valiantly persevered despite a painful shoulder injury.
Kokkinakis acknowledged that the new injury somewhat overshadowed his triumph in his first singles match in nearly a year. He secured the win against American competitor Sebastian Korda with a score of 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) on Monday night in his hometown.
The 29-year-old was marking his return to singles play after undergoing an unprecedented surgery, in which a deceased person’s Achilles tendon was grafted between his right pectoral muscle and shoulder.
Thanasi Kokkinakis was in agony as he made a victorious comeback to singles at the Adelaide International (pictured)
The veteran had to call for the physio (pictured) as his shoulder gave him hell
Kokkinakis came from a set down to secure the win after having a dead person’s Achilles tendon surgically attached to his chest muscle and shoulder
As he battled through the second set, Kokkinakis was once again confronted by intense pain.
Asked if he would have retired if it wasn’t his home tournament, Kokkinakis replied: ‘I probably wouldn’t have played to start with.’
‘I had conversations with my team: I was like: “At what cost am I playing? Even if I get through this match, so what?”
‘I had the surgery so I could back-up matches and go through a tournament. But I’ll never really find out until I go through a long match and see where I’m at after.’
Kokkinakis said it was a different pain to the pectoral problems that had long plagued him.
‘I had a pec surgery, that was more muscle; this one is in my shoulder,’ he said.
‘I have had a shoulder surgery as well, but that was probably caused from the surgery I had to the pec.
‘So there’s a lot of niggles and a lot of things going on.’
The 29-year-old played doubles with his great mate Nick Kyrgios in Brisbane last week
Kokkinakis admitted he put his future health at risk by playing through the pain
Kokkinakis won not just the match, but the battle of mind over matter.
‘It was a mental effort, for sure,’ he said.
‘There was a lot of times I thought about stopping, and am I going to do more damage if I keep playing?
‘But it’s really hard to stop. Maybe for the sake of my body, it was smarter if I stop.
‘But playing your home tournament, the only title I have won in singles, it makes it really hard to just be like: ‘Yeah, I think I’ll stop here’.’
Kokkinakis was braced for a restless sleep, physically, ahead of determining if he was fit enough to play again in the second round on Wednesday.
But mentally, he would sleep well.
‘One thing that I feel like I’ve always given, especially playing in Australia more than anything, is just whatever I have, I’m emptying the tank,’ he said.
‘I’m always giving my best.
‘Maybe it has hurt my body in the past.
‘But that’s the only thing, when I go to bed at night I can kind of sleep a bit easier knowing I literally have tried and given everything I can.’
