Emotional Kokkinakis credits his team amid 'challenging' year

Thanasi Kokkinakis couldn't hold back tears in his on-court interview with Nick Kyrgios. (Stan Sport)

Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis were required to dig deep to come back from a set down in their opening doubles match at the Brisbane International.

The popular pair were broken once throughout the match against Aussie Matthew Ebden and American Rajeev Ram, who also dropped serve once, yet it was the all-Aussie duo who prevailed 5-7, 6-4, 10-8 at Pat Rafter Arena.

HEAD has partnered with the Kooyong Classic for 2026. HEAD will be on-site with all their latest products, including the launch of the new Revolt Pro 5.0. Visit the HEAD tents at the Kooyong Classic from 13-15th January to do a fit test on the new Revolt Pros.

It has been a long road back to professional tennis for Kokkinakis, with next month marking one year since the world No.65 underwent pectoral surgery.

Speaking to spectators after the close encounter, Kokkinakis cherished being out on court again.

"It's crazy. I haven't played a match in 12 months. [I had] surgery a year ago with no guarantees that I'd be back playing," he said.

"It's been a long year; a challenging one. A lot of times, I thought the game was probably done for me, so I've chipped away at it."

The 29-year-old then went on to praise his team for sticking by him throughout the journey, before being reduced to tears.

Kokkinakis is only featuring in the doubles in Brisbane this week, but will play in his first competitive singles match since last year's Australian Open in his home city of Adelaide next week.

He will use his protected ranking (No.84) to enter the 2026 Australian Open main draw.

But that's not the case for Kyrgios, who is relying on one of three remaining wildcards to compete in the first Grand Slam of the year.

Post-match, the 2022 Wimbledon runner-up shared that "it feels good to be back and competing".

"I never thought I'd see the day that me and Thanasi were doing extended warm-ups for a doubles match, but here we are," said Kyrgios.

The 'Special K's' face sixth seeds Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul for a place in the quarter-finals.

Kyrgios will play his first round of singles against the unseeded Aleksandar Kovacevic on Tuesday.

The Kooyong Classic returns to the spiritual home of Australian tennis from January 13-15, 2026.

Each year, the Kooyong Classic features the world’s best players in their final preparation for the Australian Open. 

The 2026 event will feature Lorenzo Musetti, Alexander Bublik, Nick Kyrgios, Karen Khachanov, Flavio Cobolli, Frances Tiafoe, Learner Tien, Matteo Berrettini, Hubert Hurkacz, Marin Čilić and Zhang Zhizhen, alongside Donna Vekić and a special guest appearance Daniela Hantuchová. More to be announced in the coming weeks.

Tickets on sale now through Ticketek/www.kooyongclassic.com.au

Hospitality packages can be viewed on the Kooyong Classic website and purchased by contacting info@kooyongclassic.com.au.