2022 Australian Open champions Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios have suffered a defeat in their first ATP Finals doubles opener. On Monday, Kokkinakis and Kyrgios made their ATP Finals debut with a loss to Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski.
Kokkinakis and Kyrgios won the opening set of the match, before Koolhof and Skupski stormed back to win 6-7 (3) 6-4 10-5. The first break points were seen in the second game, when Kokkinakis and Kyrgios managed to save two break points and to avoid going down by an early break.
After not realizing two early break points, Koolhof and Skupski missed out on two break points in the eighth game as Kokkinakis and Kyrgios tied the first set to four games apiece. As no breaks were seen in the first set, the opener had to be resolved in a tie-break.
In the tie-break, the two teams were tied to two games apiece before Kokkinakis and Kyrgios won the next four points to take a 6-2 lead. Koolhof and Skupski saved the first set point but Kokkinakis and Kyrgios realized their second set point to win the opener.
Kokkinakis, Kyrgios lost the next two sets
After a very tight first set, the first break of the match was seen in the seventh game of the second set, when Koolhof and Skupski broke Kokkinakis and Kyrgios for a 4-3 lead.
Up by a break, Koolhof and Skupski held on to their serve the rest of the set to send the match into a decisive third set. After winning the second set, Koolhof and Skupski made a fast start to the third set as they took an early 4-0 lead in the match tie-break.
Through the first set 12 points of the third set, Koolhof and Skupski had a 9-3 lead and six consecutive match points. Kokkinakis and Kyrgios saved the first two match points but couldn’t save the third as Koolhof and Skupski completed a big comeback win.
For Kokkinakis and Kyrgios, the math is simple – they will have to win their next match if they want to have a shot at reaching the semifinal in Turin.
