Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios praised the contributions of the entire Australian contigent in one of the most memorable Australian Opens ever.
The Special Ks appeared on TODAY together on Tuesday morning, three days after their incredible men’s doubles win.
“Ash winning the Grand Slam was unbelievable. Me and Thanasi were in the room where she came back to her family and it was a special moment to see her share that with her support crew as well,” Kyrgios said.
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“Obviously me and Thanasi go out there and get the dubs title, Dylan’s last Australian Open, Sam Stosur’s last Australian Open, having the two Aussies that we played in the final as well.
“I think it was just an exciting Australian Open barring all the Novak stuff beforehand.
“We all did a great job to make it interesting.”
Kokkinakis has remained in Melbourne celebrating while Kyrgios has returned to Sydney with his partner after the pair took the doubles world by storm.
“It’s been good, I’m not going to lie – it was a pretty funny two weeks and a sweet month for me. To do it with Nick, I couldn’t have asked for anything more,” Kokkinakis said.
“We kind of just entered this for a bit of fun and to kind of enjoy the crowd, but to see how much it was meaning to everyone else as well, our support teams, everyone that stuck by us through all the tough times.
“It was just a massive hype train for a couple weeks, it was pretty surreal to see how everyone reacted afterwards.”
Kyrgios denounced fans shouting during points but said he could understand they were hungry for some extra energy, after struggling through bushfires and COVID.
“When I walked out to my singles, I knew that the crowd, with everything Australians have gone through the last two years, I could definitely feel that they wanted a bit more this year, they wanted a bit more of a show, they wanted to get behind it.
“I could definitely feel that the crowd was a bit looser this year.”
But not everyone was a fan of their antics.
They once again had Michael Venus’ comments played back to them, where their vanquished opponent labelled Kyrgios an ‘absolute knob’.
“It felt like we had a target on our back from the start, especially from when we beat the number one seeds,” Kokkinakis said.
“It was pretty well-documented that their fitness trainer pretty much tried to square up with Nick in the gym, and then Venus after that.
“I think it was blown out of proportion. We were just trying to hype the crowd up and have some fun. But everyone that comments about it now just kind of looks bitter, don’t they?”
Kyrgios laughed off the insult.
“I don’t even think any comments that come out of Michael Venus’ mouth are really relevant, to be honest – he was firstly dressed in something I would wear to a Halloween party – and I feel like that was the energy that we wanted.
“The fact that we’ve made Michael Venus’ comments relevant, I think that’s great.”
Venus and his partner Tim Putz were beaten in the quarter-finals – the last match on Kia Arena before the carnival moved to Rod Laver Arena.
“What I don’t understand is that was the like the best atmosphere Michael Venus will ever play in,” Kyrgios said.
“He’ll tell his kids about it – I don’t know why he’s trying to be salty.”
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