Australian Open 2025: Nick Kyrgios, Thanasi Kokkinakis keen for doubles despite injury woes - 'We owe it to the public'

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Thanasi Kokkinakis has said he and compatriot Nick Kyrgios "owe it to the public" to compete in the doubles draw at the 2025 Australian Open, despite both struggling with their physical state. Kyrgios crashed out of the Melbourne major in the first round to British hopeful Jacob Fearnley, while Kokkinakis will face Jack Draper in round two after overcoming Roman Safiullin.

GB's Fearnley defeats home favourite Kyrgios - Australian Open highlights

Video credit: TNT Sports

Nick Kyrgios is certain that he is in a strong enough state to play doubles alongside compatriot Thanasi Kokkinakis at the Australian Open.

Kyrgios crashed out of the singles draw at the first-round stage to Briton Jacob Fearnley on Monday, often grimacing and shaking his head while holding his abdominals - a continuation of the injury he suffered which put pay to his pre-tournament exhibition with Novak Djokovic.

Kokkinakis himself is battling injury issues, and said he took "a lot of painkillers" in order to oust Roman Safiullin and set up a second-round clash with British No. 1 Jack Draper.

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Their respective injury issues cast doubts over their doubles participation, with the pair scheduled to face Aleksandar Vukic and James Duckworth on Wednesday.

However, Kyrgios issued an optimistic update on Monday.

"Me and Thanasi, I think we owe it to each other to go out there and play," Kyrgios said in his post-match press conference.

"Obviously, I know that he's a physical wreck most of the time, but he somehow pushes through. Props to him for getting through his match today.

"Yeah, but I guess we will play doubles. I'll play doubles."

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Kokkinakis, meanwhile, was not so definitive in his verdict although he said he would push his body to its limits in order to make up the team and appear in front of their buoyant home crowd.

"Yeah, I mean, it's going to be wait and see," he said. "We've been talking every day. He's [Kyrgios] been asking me, 'are you sure you want to play doubles? Are you sure you're in?'

"I said, 'Yes, unless my arms are falling off the bone, I'm going to try to get out there'.

"We owe it to the public, the support they've shown to us, how much they love when we play and get out there.

"I think we're going to try and give it a run no matter how he's feeling or how I'm feeling. Obviously we don't want to do any serious damage to ourselves, but we'll see how we go."

Kyrgios' abdominal issue notably saw him struggle on serve, as his speed took a significant hit, and he admitted that he knew his first-round singles clash against Fearnley would be difficult given his physical state.

"I knew tonight was going to be tough," Kyrgios said. "With my physical state going into the match, I knew that I was going to be really hindered with my serve.

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Video credit: TNT Sports

"But just seeing the fans line up for four, five hours, just the amount of people that were there supporting me, it was hard to kind of throw the towel in. It would have been really easy to kind of just roll over.

"I tried to do the best I could with the state I was in physically. It's heartbreaking because, yeah, I obviously wanted to play well. I feel like my level's there.

"The timing of the abdominal strain is not ideal. But it is what it is."

Kyrgios is also due to represent Australia in the Davis Cup at the end of January, playing for his country for the first time since 2019.

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