Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios have made a winning start to their US Open 2022 men’s doubles campaign.
New York, USA, 2 September 2022 | Leigh Rogers
Teaming up at Grand Slam level for the first time since their sensational Australian Open title-winning run in January, Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios have picked up where they left off.
The eighth-seeded Australians recorded their seventh consecutive Grand Slam victory in first-round doubles action at the US Open today.
But it wasn’t without challenges for world No.18 Kyrgios and world No.22 Kokkinakis, who were pushed to three sets by Frenchman Hugo Gaston and Italian Lorenzo Musetti. The Special K’s eventually prevailed 4-6 6-3 6-4 in a two-hour battle in front of a vocal crowd at Louis Armstrong Stadium.
“We made it extremely tough for ourselves, but the crowd was electric,” Kyrgios said.
“We definitely have aspirations to win the tournament, so I’m just glad we’re still in the tournament after tonight.”
Earlier in the day, Wimbledon champions Matt Ebden and Max Purcell fought past No.14 seeds Santiago Gonzalez of Mexico and Argentina’s Andres Molteni in three sets. After failing to convert four match points in the second set, Ebden and Purcell bounced back strongly to score a 7-6(7) 6-7(8) 6-1 victory.
In women’s doubles action, Storm Sanders and Caroline Dolehide only required 41 minutes to complete their first-round win. The No.12 seeds powered past Italian Lucia Bronzetti and Colombian Camila Osorio 6-0 6-0. Sanders and Dolehide struck 25 winners to their opponent’s five, and lost only five points on serve in a dominant display.
Daria Saville combined with Canada’s Leylah Fernandez to cause a major upset, eliminating No.2 seeds Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula in an absorbing first-round battle. Saville and Fernandez edged out a 3-6 7-5 7-6(5) victory in two-hours and 31-minutes against world No.1 Gauff and world No.6 Pegula, who were Roland Garros finalists earlier this season.
A big doubles upset out in Grandstand! #USOpen pic.twitter.com/sksAVabyII
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 1, 2022
However, defending champion Sam Stosur, partnering Chinese Taipei’s Latisha Chan, and Ajla Tomljanovic, playing with American Sofia Kenin, were both knocked out in the opening round.
In mixed doubles, Max Purcell and Canadian partner Gabriela Dabrowski eliminated sixth seeds Yang Zhaoxuan of China and Indian Rohan Bopanna in the opening…
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