Thanasi Kokkinakis worked with Roger Federer during the off-season and says he feels much stronger because of it. The 18-year-old Australian upset No. 11 seed Ernests Gulbis in the first round, 5-7, 6-0, 1-6, 7-6 (2), 8-6.
“It's very important. Did a lot of training, a lot of hitting there,” Kokkinakis said of playing with Federer. “It was just two weeks there. I did two weeks in Adelaide, a couple weeks in Melbourne. Just the whole base was big for me. I did a lot more running. I knew what I needed to do to play five-set tennis. Went through it, last year; wasn't quite fit enough, found a way to win my first round. But this year I felt physically good, so I'm happy with how my body's holding up.”
Kokkinakis is wearing vibrant Nike clothes with pink, red, and yellow bands, but isn't sure whether he's meant to look like Andre Agassi, a former No. 1 who wore bright colors during his parts of his career.
“You'll have to ask Nike,” he said. “They gave me that package. They were like, ‘We only give this to a few. If you're up for it, wear it.’ I was like, 'Yeah, whatever, I'll do it.' I wore the stripes last year, but that was nothing compared to what I wore this year. So I was out there, and I was like, surely in this outfit I've got to get the win.”
He also discussed some shorter-than-normal shorts he wore. “It was a bit annoying. I saw it dangling at the bottom there, so I tried to flick it over,” he said with a laugh. “No, that felt fine. I prefer shorter shorts. It makes me run easier.”