Thanasi Kokkinakis finished up a strong year on the ATP Tour, with several blockbuster performances at the Davis Cup Finals.
28-year-old Kokkinakis enjoyed a successful year in 2024, as he maintained his place in the world’s top 100 with a number of impressive results.
His best result of the year came in September, as Kokkinakis beat Stefanos Tsitsipas at the US Open, his highest-ranked win of the season.
The Davis Cup Finals in Malaga is where Kokkinakis shined brightest however, as he took center stage in two of the tournament’s most entertaining matches.
Kokkinakis beat Ben Shelton, in a record-breaking match, as the Australian won the longest tie-breaker in five years at the event.
He took part in another thriller in the semi-finals as Kokkinakis fell to Matteo Berrettini in a marathon encounter with the Italian.
After Australia were knocked out in the semi-finals, Kokkinakis took time to look back upon another classic encounter he had on the ATP Tour in 2018.
Thanasi Kokkinakis admits Fernando Verdasco ‘rattled’ him at the 2018 Miami Open
Speaking to Denis Shapovalov, and Dominic Thiem, Kokkinakis recalled a match he played against Fernando Verdasco in the third round of the Miami Open in 2018.
Following on from Kokkinakis’ shock win over Roger Federer, the Australian was looking to reach the fourth round with a big win over the veteran Spaniard.
“That was weird, in the first set, I was up, this was after the [Roger] Federer match, so I was like this is my time here we go,” he said.
“I won the first set and I was up a break and someone yells out – it was 5-2 or 5-3 to me – he misses a serve and he double faults.
“He yells at his box in Spanish and yells at some people, because there is obviously a massive Spanish population.
“He wins the second set, I go up a break in the third set and I’m like game point, and he is talking Spanish as I’m serving.
“I’m pretending it doesn’t faze me but I am rattled!”
The pair then got into a heated exchange as Verdasco interrupted Kokkinakis’ service motion to complain about noise from the Australian’s box.
“He complains someone in my box is talking between first and second serves and I thought he was saying it’s my Dad,” he said.
“I was like no it’s not my Dad!
“He was saying ‘Thanasi it’s your Dad’, he was like ‘I have been playing on tour for so many years, I cannot affect someone calling out’.
“I was like you are talking about my Dad! He is not saying anything, it’s someone in the crowd!”
Kokkinakis now admits that he was shaken up by the exchange, but said there isn’t a lot that players can do when they disagree.
“He was kind of intimidating back in the day, [Fernando] Verdasco, so then I got rattled,” he said.
“Lost six in the third and head in the gutter.
“We kind of got into a bit but it was nothing.
“What are we going to do?
“Tennis players aren’t going to throw hands!”
Fernando Verdasco’s social media clash with Nick Kyrgios
During the match, in typical Nick Kyrgios fashion, the Australian took to Twitter to defend his friend and compatriot.
“I hope TK [Thanasi Kokkinakis] wins this match, Verdasco is the saltiest dude, must be frustrated at his past success against Aussies,” he said.
Kyrgios deleted the tweet after the match, which prompted Verdasco to hit back.
“Nick Kyrgios when you have the courage to put a tweet insulting another player, you need to have same to not delete it,” he said.
Not one to back down from a fight, the Australian was quick to respond to the 41-year-old.
“I would honestly have told it to Fernando’s face, the reason I deleted my previous tweet was because I didn’t want to cause unwanted attention, but I’m just going to leave this here.
“Thanks for blocking me, I’m sure that took a lot of courage x.”
Kyrgios won his two meetings with Verdasco, and Kokkinakis got his revenge against the Spaniard when they faced off for a second time at the Los Cabos Open in 2022.
Kokkinakis will return to ATP action at the Adelaide International, which begins on January 6.
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