Home favourite Thanasi Kokkinakis has claimed that he can enjoy more success at the Australian Open after causing a shock on the opening day in Melbourne.
The 18-year-old delighted the crowd by recording a dramatic five-set victory over 11th seed Ernests Gulbis, and he is hopeful of carrying the momentum into the next round, where he will meet fellow Australian Sam Groth.
"A lot of matches last year I was winning a set against these good players, but never able to finish the match through. I'm really happy with how I stuck together," Kokkinakis told reporters.
"Even though I thought for a lot of the period of that time I wasn't playing my best tennis, I found a way to kind of get the points there, the games I needed to.
"I'm not putting a limit on myself. I'm just taking it match by match. I beat a guy that made the semis of the French. He probably wasn't in his best form tonight. You can only control what you can control, so just tried to make things uncomfortable for him. Yeah, he's beaten some good players before and I've beaten him, so we'll see how it goes."
Kokkinakis has now reached the second round of the Australian Open in both of his appearances.
Callum Mulvihill
