Injuries are sadly just a part of any sport, but in tennis, it feels that much more brutal.
After all, for most other team endeavours like football, baseball, basketball and more, the stars of their games are tied to long, lucrative contracts that protect them should they suffer a physical setback.
And whilst tennis is trying to provide more safety to its players in this regard, the sport is very much still a ‘pay-as-you-play’ system.
To gain money and ranking points, you have to be present and competitive on the ATP Tour all year round.
For some, that’s simply not possible, especially given just how gruelling tennis can be.
Thanasi Kokkinakis, a victim of the sport’s physical demands, has now lifted the lid on the ‘risky’ surgery he’s had in a bid to prolong his career.
Thanasi Kokkinakis shares the details of his surgery
The affable Australian, who famously won the 2022 Australian Open doubles with friend Nick Kyrgios, spoke candidly to Australian news outlet TODAY.
There, he shared how he went under the knife to fix a longstanding shoulder issue, actually having an Achilles tendon transplanted into the affected area.
Kokkinakis claimed that this is a procedure that had never been done before to a tennis player, revealing: “The surgery I did, it’s risky, no tennis player has ever done it.
“A few surgeons didn’t want to do it, but I had to take a chance and bite the bullet if I wanted to have a crack at the rest of my career. This is my toughest injury I’ve had yet, and it will be my toughest recovery. I’m still optimistic, hopeful that I’ve made the right decision, but yeah, it hasn’t been easy and when you speak to surgeons and tennis players and no one’s seen this injury or had a surgery like this before in tennis, pretty daunting, but I knew I had to have a crack and yeah, why not be the first?”
Then asked if his career would have been over if he hadn’t had the surgery, Kokkinakis continued: “Yeah, I think so. I could have played one match a week the rest of my career, but in tennis, you can’t do that; you have to be able to string together back-to-back if you want to make any inroads in your career or ranking.
Do you think Nick Kyrgios wasted his talent?
“So, yeah, for me, it was at a do-or-die point, I was like, I can’t keep going like this. It was mental torture.
Despite these struggles suffered by both stars from that aforementioned doubles triumph, Kyrgios has confirmed his first tournament of 2026, fitness permitting.
Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios are both eyeing 2026 comebacks
It’s almost ironic to see both Kokkinakis and Kyrgios sidelined during the same tough period, given their careers now feel so intrinsically linked.
After all, that 2022 run to the Australian Open title was mesmerising, and captured the imagination in their home country.
However, since then, the gruelling schedule has not been kind to the pair.
Kokkinakis only featured at the Australian Open in 2025 before undergoing his surgery, whilst Kyrgios only managed four singles matches all year.
It would be so refreshing to see this pair back on court, and hopefully we will be gifted a re-run of that moment which stole headlines nearly four years ago.
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