On Thursday night, Kyrgios and Kokkinakis displayed a tamer brand, although they were still happy to entertain the crowd with all the usual tricks.
“Who had Special K this morning?” the fan shouted. Kyrgios diligently raised his hand in response.
There were moments of brilliance in the first set as well, however both Kyrgios and Kokkinakis looked slightly sluggish and struggled with their serves.
The two teams were evenly matched during the first set. But Polmans and Kubler won a crucial point after Kyrgios’ cheeky underarm serve and suddenly had a break.
The “Special Ks” ended up losing the opening set 4-6 and suddenly found themselves vulnerable. But they rallied to take the second set 6-4.
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After Kokkinakis hit a winning forehand, Kyrgios almost ran him over in celebration before they both looked up at their screens to watch their own feed.
Referee chairwoman Marijana Veljovic intervened numerous times to remind the crowd to be quiet, adding: “Guys, the support… the cheering is great… but it worries the players”.
Of course, her reprimands went down like a lead balloon, eliciting boos from the crowd, followed by a chorus of comical silence.
“Guys, this is no fun,” Veljovic continued, sounding more like a school teacher trying unsuccessfully to punish a bunch of ten-year-olds.
Leading 4-1 in the third set, Kokkinakis called a medical time-out and a physio worked on his shoulder in what proved to be a crucial turning point in the match.
The ‘Special Ks’ then struggled to regain momentum, Kokkinakis visibly grimacing as he served. Their opponents were too consistent in the tie-break and sprinted to a 6-3 lead before finishing the job with some great shots at the net.
Both Kokkinakis and Kyrgios appeared disappointed in the post-match press conference, with Kokkinakis telling reporters that he felt like fans were “seeing shadows” of him and Kyrgios due to their injuries.
Australian stars Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis in action against compatriots Jason Kubler and Marc Polmans.Credit: Penny Stephens
So is this the end of their doubles run?
Former world No.4 Jelena Dokic was interviewed by Nine (the owner of this masthead) on Thursday ahead of the match and urged the pair to consider full-time doubles.
“I’d actually like to see them play doubles full-time, at least. [play] more tournaments. I think that would be amazing,” she told Nine.
“If they play more matches, they could be one of the best doubles pairs in the world.”
On a positive note, Kyrgios said he physically felt like he had ticked off all his goals over the past few weeks and will sort out his future game plans once his mixed doubles campaign is over.
“I did everything I thought I could do,” he said.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do.” [next].”
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