{"id":536170,"date":"2026-01-23T04:06:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T04:06:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/536170\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T04:06:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T04:06:11","slug":"nick-kyrgios-press-conference-after-doubles-loss-thanasi-kokkinakis-review-for-hitting-ball-on-other-side-of-net-shoulder-injury-slams-technology-reaction-latest-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/536170\/","title":{"rendered":"Nick Kyrgios press conference after doubles loss, Thanasi Kokkinakis review for hitting ball on other side of net, shoulder injury, slams technology, reaction, latest news"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nick Kyrgios has slammed the selective use of in-game technology after he and Thanasi Kokkinakis\u2019 dramatic opening round exit<\/a> from the 2026 Australian Open Men\u2019s Doubles.<\/p>\n

The x-factor duo, dubbed \u2018Special Ks\u2019, came back from a set down on KIA Arena to force a third and final set \u2014 that went to a super tiebreaker \u2014 but were ultimately beaten 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (10-4) by fellow Aussie duo Jason Kubler and Marc Polmans.<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

As the thrilling two-hour and 49-minute affair went on, Kyrgios\u2019 emotions hit their apex during the fourth point of the super tiebreaker, where his partner Kokkinakis looked to have hit a winner at the net, before being overturned on review at the request of the opposing Kubler.<\/p>\n

Replays showed the Adelaide star had illegally made contact before the returning ball crossed over to his side of the court, with his racquet clearly overreaching the net. Subsequently, the point was reversed and sent \u2018Special Ks\u2019 into a 1-3 deficit they never recovered from.<\/p>\n

A side-on view that shows Kokkinakis’ racquet reaching over the net on contact.Source: Channel 9<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re only playing by some rules tonight guys, don\u2019t worry,\u201d Kyrgios said audibly after the point was overturned. <\/p>\n

The 30-year-old\u2019s frustrations appeared to stem largely from a Kokkinakis serve in the opening point of the super tiebreak that was deemed a let, much to his dissatisfaction under the belief it had not touched the net.<\/p>\n

Kyrgios smashes a ball out of KIA ARENA in frustration post-match, before eventually shaking the hand of umpire Marijana Veljovic (Photo by Mark Stewart)Source: News Corp Australia<\/p>\n

\u201cHow can you review a ball that\u2019s been hit over the net, but you can\u2019t review a serve over the net?\u201d Kyrgios exclaimed in their post-match press conference.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t make any f***ing sense, that\u2019s why I\u2019m pissed off. We\u2019re playing for millions of dollars, we\u2019ve both been injured (and) both trying to get to this stage. Some of these rules are just so, so, so dumb, they don\u2019t make sense.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow can you not review a let? How can you not review that? How can you not just watch a ball just go over the net? How dumb does that sound? Next question.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kyrgios later added: \u201cIt sucks. For me personally, I put in a lot of work. I\u2019m probably in some of the best shape I\u2019ve been in for a while, (so) it just pisses me off that we go out there and compete, and some of these rules are just so gray-areaed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my opinion, he\u2019s (Kokkinakis) trying to serve (with) what he\u2019s got left, he hits a great serve to start the tiebreak. It\u2019s a horrendous call by the referee, horrendous.<\/p>\n

‘Sorry she was mad about it’ Frosty end! | 01:14<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not saying that\u2019s the reason we lost; obviously Kubes and Polmans, they\u2019re great players. (But it) just pisses me off because now we both have to go back to the drawing board … It\u2019s just annoying.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neither Kyrgios nor Kokkinakis entered the Men\u2019s Singles tournament this summer as a result of injury concerns, with the former now missing the draw for the third time in four years after the pair\u2019s epic 2022 Doubles Grand Slam win.<\/p>\n

As for Kokkinakis, 2026 is the first Men\u2019s Singles campaign at home he\u2019s missed since 2020, though it was clear throughout the match his right shoulder was a notable cause for concern.<\/p>\n

Crucially, the 29-year-old called for a medical timeout with his duo up 4-1 in the third set in an injury that clearly bothered him from start to finish.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019re going to be on ice for a while. I don\u2019t want to play another match feeling like that ever again, so I will take a serious break,\u201d Kokkinakis told journalists post-play.<\/p>\n

Kokkinakis (centre) gets medical treatment on his right shoulder during the third set of his first-round Men\u2019s doubles loss to Jason Kubler and Marc Polmans on KIA Arena (Photo by Mark Stewart)Source: News Corp Australia<\/p>\n

\u201cI told Lleyton (Hewitt) he\u2019s got to take someone (else to the Davis Cup) straight after (the match) … you\u2019ve got to take a healthy body, someone that\u2019s a lot more ready than me. I\u2019m in no way, shape or form ready to compete at this level, so I\u2019ve got to do some things.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought I\u2019d be able to get through a doubles (match), so that\u2019s disappointing.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Sometimes) I don\u2019t know how much I have left, but then other parts I play some good tennis. So, I think if I can get this right, I\u2019ve got a lot left … I\u2019m going to try everything I can.\u201d<\/p>\n

The winning pair of Kubler and Polmans will take on Switzerland\u2019s Jakub Paul and Brit Marcus Willis in the second round of the Men\u2019s Doubles. The eventual Doubles champions in both Men\u2019s and Women\u2019s will take home a $900,000 AUD prize. <\/p>\n

Kyrgios is set to play Mixed Doubles with Canadian Leylah Fernandez from 5pm AEDT on Friday evening at Court 3 (ANZ Arena).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nick Kyrgios has slammed the selective use of in-game technology after he and Thanasi Kokkinakis\u2019 dramatic opening round…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":536171,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[237134,237135,237140,237132,237141,237128,237127,237139,237129,237130,232884,237131,237133,11649,73391,6115,121134,7219,237142,237137,237138,62,29833,237136,1464,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-536170","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-aussie-qualifier","9":"tag-aussie-qualifier-wins","10":"tag-doubles-loss","11":"tag-dramatic-doubles-heartbreak","12":"tag-dramatic-opening","13":"tag-frustration-post-match","14":"tag-hitting-ball","15":"tag-in-game-technology","16":"tag-ing-sense","17":"tag-injury-concerns","18":"tag-jason-kubler","19":"tag-journalists-post-play","20":"tag-marijana-veljovic","21":"tag-mark","22":"tag-match-point","23":"tag-naomi-osaka","24":"tag-post-match-press-conference","25":"tag-press-conference","26":"tag-qualifier-wins-epic","27":"tag-right-shoulder","28":"tag-rules-tonight-guys","29":"tag-sports","30":"tag-stewart","31":"tag-super-tiebreaker","32":"tag-tennis","33":"tag-united-states","34":"tag-unitedstates","35":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=536170"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536170\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/536171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=536170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=536170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=536170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}