ADELAIDE, Australia — Home favorite
Thanasi Kokkinakis claimed the first ATP title of his career Saturday after downing fellow
big-server
Arthur Rinderknech in three sets at the Adelaide International
final.
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The Australian prevailed 6-7 (8/6), 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 in two
hours and 38 minutes.
"I wouldn't want to win my first title anywhere else...
I've been practicing on this court since I was nine years old," Kokkinakis
said at the awards presentation.
In-form Kokkinakis had beaten former
US Open champion Marin
Cilic in a three-set semi-final nerve-jangler Friday in what has been an
impressive start to what he hopes is a breakout season.
In his first final in five years, Kokkinakis overcame the
Frenchman's pyrotechnics with the help of his home fans.
Little separated the big-servers in a first set that almost
predictably had to be decided by a tie break.
Kokkinakis had set point at 6-5 after deft play at the net
brought boisterous fans to their feet.
But Rinderknech remained unperturbed to snatch the first set
and his booming serve remained hard to crack.
Kokkinakis too held his own on serve and then lifted in the
tie break with blistering groundstrokes to level the contest.
His momentum carried over into the third set, capturing the
first break of serve in the match to gain a stranglehold.
Kokkinakis again pounced on Rinderknech's serve in the
ninth game to break his title drought, sinking to his knees as the crowd
erupted.
He plays German qualifier
Yannick Hanfmann in the first
round of the Australian Open.
While Rinderknech meets Australian
Alexei Popyrin in his
opener.
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