ATP: Kokkinakis:”Maybe I’ll find something else.”

After two lost years on the tour Thanasi Kokkinakis wants to start again in 2018. However, severe problems with his shoulder left him doubting for a long time whether his career would continue.

“I had no idea what I was doing on the pitch,”Kokkinakis told Adelaide Now about his May comeback to the ATP-250 tournament in Lyon,”I didn’t even know how to build a point. I was in a dark place.”

In France, the Australian played his first ATP event since Valencia in 2015 and won his first match against Denis Istomin before losing to Milos Raonic.

Apart from his injury problems, the 21-year-old admits that obviously psychological problems were also decisive for the almost two years of time-out on the tour.”There were several reasons,”he said.”Of course, I had surgery on my shoulder, but I didn’t really feel comfortable in the two years either.”

In his comeback, Kokkinakis tried to take pressure off himself:”I told my coach’s staff that I would use the Protected Ranking and just look where I stand. If it’s not enough, maybe I’ll take a break and find something else, something I can really enjoy.”

Kokkinakis is currently number 209 in the world, but was already in 69th position in June 2015. In Los Cabos, the Adelaide man reached his first final after an injury break. Kokkinakis has a Wild Card for the upcoming Australian Open.