MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis entered on a wild card and were dubbed the Special Ks on their wild ride to the men's doubles title at the Australian Open.
With a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Matt Ebden and Max Purcell on Saturday, the long-time friends became the first home-grown pairing to win the men's doubles title here since Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde, aka the Woodies, in 1997.
And this was only their fourth Grand Slam event as a team.
The pair, who won the Wimbledon boys' doubles title nearly nine years ago, never faced a break point in a dominant performance in a final that started on Rod Laver Arena following Ash Barty's drought-breaking women's singles title.
It capped a decent day for the Aussies, with the so-called Special Ks becoming the first all-Australian team to win a Grand Slam men's doubles title since Woodforde and Woodbridge won their 11th together at Wimbledon in 2000.