BRISBANE INTERNATIONAL

December 30, 2023

Thanasi Kokkinakis

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Any thoughts ahead of the match with Rinky?

THANASI KOKKINAKIS: As an Aussie, you'd rather play someone that's not from your home country and hope you can all get through.

It is what it is. That's tennis. You never know who you are going to play. We've got a lot of good Aussie players coming through, a lot in the top hundred. Rinky has had a great year. I'm expecting a tough match, for sure.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. How good is it to start your season at home in Australia?

THANASI KOKKINAKIS: Yeah, it's good. That's the tough part about being from Australia. Obviously you don't get much time at home throughout the year. I guess that's the silver lining, the happy thing about being from Australia. You get to play at home. It's very close. The support's always massive here. There's no buzz and energy quite like playing in front of your home fans.

Yeah, I'm looking forward to getting out there and experiencing that again.

Q. The overall vibe in Australian tennis at the moment. Obviously you're playing another Australian, that's a reflection of the depth.

THANASI KOKKINAKIS: Yeah, definitely. I think the most numbers we've had sort of around that ranking for a while, which is great. We're obviously pushing each other and really doing well. There's so much of the year as well just apart from the Aussie summer to continue going and building.

Hopefully we can all just keep pushing each other forward and, yeah, competing with each other.

Q. When you come back to Australia, is it pure focus on tennis, or is there anything Australian that you love doing, places that you hit up?

THANASI KOKKINAKIS: Yeah, I mean, I love being home. That's the bit I struggle most about sort of being on tour, you almost got to be away for eight, nine months of the year minimum.

So for me, I enjoy my time home. When I do come home, I like to think that tennis is my last focus, apart from when you come back in December in the Aussie summer because you know you can't have too much time and build up.

I love being in Adelaide with my friends and family. Just bought a place in Melbourne now, so I'm full-time there, which I love. It's my favorite city in the world. I wish I had a little bit more time off to enjoy there.

Q. Do you feel like that's why you've played some of your best tennis when you are here in Australia?

THANASI KOKKINAKIS: I think so, but there's both sides to it. You have the Aussie support, but you also have the pressure, as well. You want to play well and perform well in front of the people that are supporting you and have known you for a while. It's a bit of both.

I think playing in front of that energy, I feel like my intensity usually goes to another level when I play in Australia. It's hard to replicate that throughout the whole year.

Q. What do you want to get out of this summer?

THANASI KOKKINAKIS: Just win as many matches as possible. Keep it simple. Play well. Stay healthy. Hopefully my goal is Aussie Open and playing home at Adelaide, my two big focuses. See how well I can do there and have runs there.