Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis’ Australian Open doubles campaign was brought to an end in dramatic fashion on Thursday.
The pair, who were aiming to win their first Australian Open match as a partnership since winning the 2022 title, were defeated 6-4, 4-6, 10-7 by compatriots Marc Polmans and Jason Kubler.
The duo struggled physically during the match, with Kokkinakis frequently holding his shoulder and Kyrgios seen limping.
The match was not short of controversy. In the deciding 10-point tiebreak, a let was called on Kokkinakis’ serve, despite the ball appearing to clear the net.
A few points later, after a video review requested by Kubler and Polmans, Kokkinakis was deemed to have hit the ball on the opposing side of the net, handing a crucial point to Kubler and Polmans.
After the contest, Kyrgios took particular issue with the let call.
Nick Kyrgios describes the umpire’s let call as ‘horrendous’
Speaking after the match, Kyrgios expressed his dismay at the umpire’s decision to call a let.
He said: “You know what the issue is. How can you review a ball that’s been hit over the net, but you can’t review a serve over the net?
“Doesn’t make any f–––––– sense. Like, that’s why I’m p––––– off. Like, we’re playing for millions of dollars. We’ve been both injured, both trying to get to this stage. Some of these rules are just so, so, so dumb.
“They don’t make sense. Yeah, so how can you not review a let? How can you not review that? How can you not just watch a ball just go over the net? How dumb does that sound?”
Later in the press conference, Kyrgios continued to slam the umpire’s decision.
“It sucks. For me personally, I put in a lot of work,” he began.
“I’m probably in some of the best shape I’ve been in for a while. It just p––––– me off that we go out there and compete, and some of these rules are just so ‘gray area-ed.’
“In my opinion, like, he’s trying to serve, what he’s [Kokkinakis] got left, he hits a great serve to start the tiebreak.
“It’s a horrendous call by the referee, horrendous. No let, all that. We do so much hard work to get out there. To feel like you’re hard done by. I’m not saying that’s the reason we lost.
“Like obviously Kubes and Polmans, they’re great players. Just p––––– me off because, like, now we both have to go back to the drawing board.
“Physically we’re hobbling. It’s just annoying. But, yeah, the fans are amazing. The energy here is second to none pretty much.”
Despite the loss, Kyrgios’ Australian Open campaign is far from over. The Australian will play mixed doubles with Leylah Fernandez on Friday.
In the first round, they face Neal Skupski and Desirae Krawczyk.
Jason Kubler responds to the controversy
Kubler and Polmans made a smart decision by requesting a video review at 2-1 in the deciding tiebreak.
Kokkinakis had struck a volley for a winner. However, after review, it was clear the Australian had hit the shot while on Kubler and Polmans’ side of the net.
Kubler and Polmans took a 3-1 lead as a result, before later closing out the tiebreak 10-7.
Kubler reacted to their call in the pair’s post-match press conference.
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“Well, to be honest, I wasn’t 100% sure if he did reach over,” he began.
“It was just one of those situations where we had the replay. I was like we may as well use it, you know. At the end it just worked out for us that he did actually reach over the net.
“It’s not like I knew that he did that or anything. But then, yeah, once we would see the review, it showed that he reached over. Yeah, our point.”
In the next round, Polmans and Kubler will play Marcus Willis and Jakub Paul.
