Thanasi Kokkinakis knows how to produce a Cinderella run and his Wimbledon 2026 men’s doubles campaign was no exception.
Alongside American partner Aleksandar Kovacevic, the South Australian shook up the Wimbledon draw with another Grand Slam doubles semifinal appearance.
An alternate pairing, Kokkinakis and Kovacevic defeated three seeds en route to the final four, including Australian Open 2026 champions Christian Harrison and Neal Skupski.
The pair had two set points to force a deciding set against top seeds Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten and saved three match points in their semifinal. However, Heliovaara and Patten served strongly in pressured moments to secure a 7-6(2) 7-6(8) victory, preventing a fourth-straight upset.
Almost becoming the second-straight alternate pair to reach the Wimbledon final, after fellow Australian Rinky Hijikata and Germany's David Pel at Wimbledon 2025, the result was bittersweet for Kokkinakis. “It’s tough, obviously not too far removed from it so it’s a tough finish to a great week,” he told Stan Sport.
“Doubles tennis against the best combo in the world, we were right there. We had a couple of set points, they came up with some good serves. I thought for a set and a half I played great but we couldn’t quite gel together, play well at the same time.
“It was a great week from not [being] in the draw to semifinalist but definitely an opportunity missed.”
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While Kokkinakis is excelling on the doubles court, the fire to play singles is still burning the brightest. The 30-year-old was valiant in his Wimbledon singles campaign, almost defeating 10th seed Alexander Bublik in a first-round, five-set epic.
Although he had a deeper run in the tandem format, Kokkinakis’ primary focus is to return to singles form.
“I definitely enjoy [doubles]. It’s not the focus of my game, anything on the doubles court is a bonus,” he said.
“There is some positives to it, it’s not a bad life, but at the same time, singles is where I want to have goals and progress. I think doubles is great as far as titles go and going deep in Slams but for me my focus is still singles.”
Kokkinakis will now turn his attention to the upcoming North American hardcourt swing. With his body feeling “great”, he aspires to accumulate as many matches as possible before returning to the US Open for the first time in two years.
“I’ll probably head to the States,” Kokkinakis said about his post-Wimbledon plans.
“I’ll just try and get more matches on the singles court and build up, hopefully use my protected ranking for the two Masters [Montreal and Cincinnati] and then turn my focus towards the US Open.”