Thanasi Kokkinakis finally made a comeback to the ATP Tour at the Brisbane International after being sidelined for a year due to injury.
In the first round of the 2025 Australian Open doubles tournament, Kokkinakis was forced to retire due to a pectoral injury, for which he underwent surgery.
The Australian star has now returned to action 12 months later at this year’s Brisbane International alongside compatriot Nick Kyrgios.
Kokkinakis and Kyrgios came back from a set down to beat the duo of Matthew Ebden and Rajeev Ram, 5-7, 6-4, 10-8.
Following their victory, an emotional Kokkinakis revealed exactly what he had been through while sidelined for the majority of his 2025 campaign.
Thanasi Kokkinakis details his pectoral surgery
In his post-match press conference, he said: “I’ve never really teared up from a doubles match, even when we won. It wasn’t, like it was excitement, but it wasn’t like crazy.
“I don’t know. What I have kind of gone through the last 12 months is crazy, speaking to a lot of surgeons, a lot of doctors, spoke to Rafa’s doctor and he wasn’t quite sure what was going on. It was pretty crazy.
“No physio or doctor that I saw was really comfortable and confident of which was the right way to go. But I said I didn’t want to keep doing what I was doing.
“In the past, I’d play one match and maybe have a big win, and my arm was shot for the next couple of rounds. I was almost like I don’t care if I don’t play again, like I’m not doing that again, because it’s almost like a tease of what I can do and then I just have to pull out.
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“I essentially cut half my pec off. I had a bald scar tissue that I was playing with for five or so years. Saw a bunch of surgeons who didn’t want to operate on it. They thought it’s risky. Never been done in tennis.
“Yeah, essentially have an Achilles allograft or a dead person’s Achilles in my arm trying to attach my pec to my shoulder.
“It’s really hard kind of coming back from that process, because you don’t really have anyone to speak to because no one’s done it.
“A lot of people do ACLs and Achilles ruptures, which are brutal, terrible injuries, but with those, a lot of people have had them, so you kind of know who to speak to and what to do.
“This one, I’m kind of gauging how we go. There’s been days where it’s okay and other days where I’m, like, There’s no chance I’m playing again.
“Yeah, to be on the court, especially with Nick, was a special feeling, and yeah, it’s been a very rocky road this year, and I’m trying to take it one day at a time.”
Nick Kyrgios said he was ‘surprised’ at his and Thanasi Kokkinakis’ level
Kyrgios, who has dealt with a number of injuries himself, said of Kokkinakis’ return: “I understand how emotional it can be.
“I think people underestimate how much work actually, just because we are not playing full schedules, they underestimate how much work actually goes into it.
Do you think Nick Kyrgios wasted his talent?
“I think arguably you’re on top of your load management more, getting more physio, you don’t really know how to train and prepare. As he said, there’s no one you can really go to for advice on certain injuries.
“It’s been something he’s had to deal with his whole career pretty much, and, like, the fact of seeing him out there, we were really surprised with our level, to be honest. It didn’t look like we had been away from the game for, it’s been a year, pretty much, for Thanasi.
“We have gone through, and we’re playing two guys who are probably some of the best doubles players still out there.”
Kyrgios’ first singles match at the Brisbane International will be against Aleksandar Kovacevic.
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