Tears for Thanasi, grins for Nick as Special Ks make their return
Thanasi Kokkinakis said he didn't think he'd be able to return to tennis after a 2025 blighted by injury. Instead he's made a winning return alongside doubles partner and all-round showman Nick Kyrgios.
Nick Kyrgios could not have looked more at ease on Pat Rafter Arena on Sunday night.
As if to prove it, he briefly swayed his hips in time to the Katy Perry song blasting out from the stadium PA.
Thanasi Kokkinakis could only grin.
Welcome to the party — the Special Ks are back.
A sleepy Sunday evening in Queensland on day one of the Brisbane International could never hope to match the high-octane atmosphere of a Melbourne Park night session, but that barely mattered.
Kyrgios positively skipped his way onto court for the warm-up, incongruously wearing a hoody in the soupy, 28-degree pre-storm humidity of the Brisbane evening.
He was a picture of ease, tossing the ball between his legs as he skipped into position and smiling as he exchanged warm-up strokes with opponent Matt Ebden.
Those opponents were not a pairing to sneer at, either.
Matt Ebden is a three-time grand slam doubles winner and reigning Olympic champion.
Rajeev Ram has six majors and two Olympic medals in his locker.
Both are former world number ones in doubles and arguably among the best practitioners of the two-person game.
So it was not necessarily a surprise that Kokkinakis and Kyrgios succumbed to the two established veterans opposite them 7-5 in the first set.
But then Kokkinakis found his groove and the Special Ks fought back valiantly to take the second 6-4 and set up a game tie break in the third, which they went on to take 10-8 to the delight of the crowd.
Like we said, the Special Ks are back.
"We knew we had quality opponents. It was just like riding a bike when we came back," Kokkinakis said on court.
Perhaps so, but given the injury woes that Kokkinakis had faced over the past 12 months, it understandably took a little bit of time to get the wheels turning.
That's why, despite Kyrgios being the main attraction tonight, it is perhaps better to focus first on Kokkinakis.
Thanasi Kokkinakis burst into life in the second set. (AAP Image: Zain Mohammed)
Playing competitively for the first time since the 2025 Australian Open doubles after a year blighted by injury, Kokkinakis needs court time more than anything else.
Surgery on his pectoral muscle, removing a lot of the damaged muscle and using a cadaver Achilles tendon to attach the remaining muscle to his shoulder was groundbreaking.
It had never been done before in tennis.
"There's been days where it's OK [and] other days where I'm like, there's no chance I'm playing again," Kokkinakis said.