ATLANTA/STARNBERG, July 25, 2023
Thanasi Kokkinakis headlined Monday’s first-round action at the Atlanta Open by rallying past French wild card entry Gael Monfils 1-6, 6-3, 7-6(5). The World No. 86 sent down eight aces and won 76 per cent of his first-service points to secure victory in two hours and three minutes.
What a show 👏👏👏@TKokkinakis knocks out Monfils to advance to round 2!
— Atlanta Open 🎾 (@ATLOpenTennis) July 25, 2023
“It was pretty stressful, especially in the first set, which wasn’t much fun He posed a lot of challenges and he is one of the quickest players on tour. I can’t get a ball by him most of the time,” said Kokkinakis, who will next take on his compatriot Alex de Minaur.
Monfils was playing his first match since withdrawing from his second-round encounter with Holger Rune at Roland Garros due to a left wrist tear.
Monday Results
Singles – First Round
A. Vukic (AUS) def. [WC] E. Quinn (USA) 7-6(5), 6-3
[Q] L. Harris (RSA) def. [Q] J. Duckworth (AUS) 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
T. Kokkinakis (AUS) def. [WC] G. Monfils (FRA) 1-6, 6-3, 7-6(5)
[8] J. Wolf (USA) def. J. Jung (TPE) 6-2, 6-1
Doubles – First Round
[3] M. Melo (BRA) / J. Peers (AUS) def. L. Martinez (VEN) / R. Stalder (USA) 6-1, 7-6(3)
E. King (USA) / C. Lestienne (FRA) def. A. Goransson (SWE) / M. Reyes-Varela (MEX) 6-7(3), 7-6(2), 10-8
Y. Bhambri (IND) / S. Myneni (IND) def. [WC] K. King (USA) / A. Martin (USA) 6-3, 6-4
