Adelaide heartbreak: Kokkinakis’ hometown comeback cut short by familiar foes
Valentin Vacherot benefited from the forfeit of Thanasi Kokkinakis on Wednesday. The Australian couldn’t recover from his win against Sebastian Korda.
Portrait of Thanasi Kokkinakis, 2024 | © Tennis Majors / UTS
Monégasque Valentin Vacherot, the No 5 seed, advanced to the quarter-finals of the Adelaide International after Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis withdrew before the match on Wednesday night.
The 29-year-old South Australian, who had been sidelined for nearly a year following a radical pectoral surgery, officially pulled out just 48 hours after a grueling three-set victory over Sebastian Korda (3-6, 6-3, 7-6).
Vacherot, ranked No 31, will play the winner of the match between Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, the top seed, and Australian wildcard Rinky Hijikata next.
Writing on Instagram on Wednesday, Kokkinakis told his fans: “Very sad to have to pull out of my favourite event. Unfortunately my arm isn’t quite ready yet after missing a year off… See you next year.”
Thanasi Kokkinakis’ long-awaited return to professional singles tennis ended in heartbreak with this withdrawal, admitting he had to question “at what cost” he was competing after a fresh shoulder injury.
“I had a pec surgery [last year], that was more muscle; this one is in my shoulder,” Kokkinakis told reporters following his first-round win, where he was visibly in distress. “I have had a shoulder surgery as well, but that was probably caused from the surgery I had to the pec. So there’s a lot of niggles and a lot of things going on.”
Kokkinakis: ‘AT WHAT COST?’
The withdrawal casts a significant shadow over Kokkinakis’ participation in the Australian Open, which begins on Sunday. Despite his victory over Korda, in which his service speed dropped by 20kmh during the second set, the world number 670 admitted he had considered retiring mid-match.
“I probably wouldn’t have played to start with [if it wasn’t a home tournament],” Kokkinakis said. “I had conversations with my team: I was like: ‘At what cost am I playing? Even if I get through this match, so what?'”
He added: “I know what tomorrow is looking like for me – and I don’t love it. Fingers crossed, the anti-inflammatories work some wonders.”
RADICAL SURGERY
Kokkinakis’ 2025 season was entirely erased by a procedure few tennis players have ever attempted. In February 2025, surgeons used a donor Achilles tendon – an allograft from a deceased donor – to repair a chronic pectoral tear by knotting it between his muscle and shoulder.
“I essentially cut half my pec off,” Kokkinakis explained of the 2025 procedure. “I had a bald scar tissue that I was playing with for five or so years… No physio or doctor that I saw was really comfortable and confident of which was the right way to go.”
Reflecting on his latest setback, he noted: “I had the surgery so I could back up matches and go through a tournament. But I’ll never really find out until I go through a long match and see where I’m at after.”
MELBOURNE UNCERTAINTY
The Australian is currently entered into the year’s first Grand Slam using a protected ranking. His withdrawal from Adelaide hands Vacherot, the 2025 Shanghai champion, a walkover into the quarter-finals.
While he remains on the entry list for Melbourne Park, where he is also scheduled to partner Nick Kyrgios in doubles, his physical status is now officially listed as “day-to-day.”
