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MIAMI OPEN PRESENTED BY ITAÃº

March 24, 2018

Thanasi Kokkinakis

Miami, Florida

T. KOKKINAKIS/R. Federer

3-6, 6-3, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. We spoke a couple days ago. You were pretty confident. I think you said your goal was to win, that you felt you could take him.
THANASI KOKKINAKIS: Yeah.

Q. Pretty amazing.
THANASI KOKKINAKIS: Yeah, for sure, because I think you asked me what's my goal for the match. It wasn't to get a few games or to be competitive. You know, I gave myself a legit shot.

I just had to play my game. At the start I was rushing a little bit. Obviously he puts a lot of pressure on you, doesn't really play like many players. Obviously he's a lot better than a lot of players. But game style-wise, he's a lot different.

Took a little bit of time to adjust. Then when the game kind of slowed down to me, I started being able to execute and do what I needed to. I thought I was in control of more baseline rallies, for sure.

Q. (No microphone.)
THANASI KOKKINAKIS: It feels good. Any match feels good to win, especially now where I am in my sort of comeback and trying to play some matches.

Yeah, against him, he's been super nice to me. Invited me to Dubai a couple times to train with him. He's been real supportive. Anything he thinks in my game, how it should operate, I've been all ears listening to him.

To share the court, have such a big win on a big court against the world No. 1, it's pretty crazy. Pretty happy about it.

Q. After losing the first set, what did you tell yourself? What do you think you did to revert the match?
THANASI KOKKINAKIS: Well, I got broken from 40-15, so I sort of gave him that game with some loose errors. Again, he puts a lot of pressure on you with the way he plays. He shrinks the court, so it's tough.

When the game slowed down a little bit, I started controlling the points with my forehand. I think he felt it, too, that I was winning a lot of the baseline rallies. He started to come into net a lot.

The third set, I was holding on a lot of moments, tight moments, where he was in control of the third set. Played big when it mattered. I thought I played a really solid mental tiebreak, and, yeah, got it done.

Q. Did that time in Dubai help you think of him as a human as opposed to a legend?
THANASI KOKKINAKIS: I mean, everyone's a human. I played all the sort of big four now. Had a couple good wins. I know what my abilities are on the practice court. Maybe Dubai helped a little bit to know what he likes to do.

I played a lot of good players in practice and in matches. In practice, I feel really good with a lot of the players. Again, there's obviously that difficulty trying to bring that to a match court. I know if I bring that level, I can beat a lot of good players. That's what I tried to do.

Yeah, I mean, everyone is human. He just plays tennis a lot better than a lot of people.

Q. Did you say you didn't always listen to Roger when he would give you advice?
THANASI KOKKINAKIS: What do you mean?

Q. Just now, you said you were in Dubai, but maybe I didn't always listen to him?
THANASI KOKKINAKIS: No. I said I was all ears. I didn't say that.

Q. At what point in the match did you think you could hang with him, you had a pretty good chance, that the belief really set in for you?
THANASI KOKKINAKIS: A big game was the first game of the second set where I played a shocker. I was able to get that. He gave me maybe some cheap errors. When I broke him I think to go 3-1, I was like, Okay.

I didn't really make him play too many balls up until then. That game I knuckled down. He gave me one double-fault, but I knuckled down, put pressure on him, started dictating the points. I said, If he beats me by hitting winners, too good. But he didn't.

I started to dictate there especially in the second set. I thought in the third, when it mattered in the third, a lot of the rallies, I was coming on top of. Yeah, that's it.

Q. You're only the seventh Australian to beat Federer.
THANASI KOKKINAKIS: Sorry?

Q. You're only the seventh Australian to beat Federer. What does something like that mean to you? And do you think you can name the other six?
THANASI KOKKINAKIS: Oh, I'm surprised there are seven, to be honest.

Lleyton's one.

Q. Nick.
THANASI KOKKINAKIS: Nick obvious has beaten him. Thanks, mate. I'm going to assume Philippoussis beat him along the line. Seven beat him?

Q. You're the seventh.
THANASI KOKKINAKIS: Who else is good? Rafter. Laver, no I'm joking. There's two more, is there?

Q. Yes.
THANASI KOKKINAKIS: Missing some legends. That was going to be a stupid one. I got no idea who the other two are. Who are the other two?

Q. (No microphone.)
THANASI KOKKINAKIS: Never heard of that guy. Really? I actually never heard of him. Oops. Yeah, he might not like that either.

Q. Can you take us back to the moment in the third set, the crowd is obviously cheering for Roger, but how much fun that was for you.
THANASI KOKKINAKIS: Yeah, it was so much fun. There were a lot of calls, some cringy ones from the crowd. I was trying to keep a straight face. Some ridiculous stuff you hear from the crowd.

What did I say? Yeah, 4-5, when I was serving to stay in the match, the crowd went nuts. Brought a smile to my face. I was kind of laughing it up, trying to stay relaxed because you got to enjoy those moments.

Then 5-6, the crowd just goes nuts, rallies behind him. It's pretty cool. I know when I went on court, there wasn't much cheering. Then he came on court with a little delayed sort of strut that he does. I was, This is pretty nuts. The crowd goes nuts when he does his walk onto court.

Q. Is it fair to say your serve let you down the second and third set? How did you handle it?
THANASI KOKKINAKIS: Yeah, I didn't think I served very well the whole match. I came up with some big ones I guess when I needed to. The serve is usually one thing I pride my game on. It's a big part of my game.

Honestly, to beat someone like that without serving great is a good testament to my game, I think. Winning a lot of baseline rallies and dictating with my forehand, I think when I'm playing like that off the ground, I can be very dangerous.

Yeah, my serve didn't help me. At the same time it got me out of some holes in the third set on a couple breakpoints. But, yeah, it is what it is. You can't serve great every time.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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