Melbourne, Australia, 13 January 2025 | Sean A'Hearn

Drawing on the fighting Spartan spirit represented in images on his shorts, a gutsy Thanasi Kokkinakis has battled through another injury to win his Australian Open first round clash against Russia’s Roman Safiullin.

The Australian fan favourite came into the tournament under an injury cloud after withdrawing from the Adelaide International with a shoulder complaint and the Brisbane International with a hip injury.

This time, Kokkinakis was troubled by a thigh issue which left him barely able to run but he still managed to win 3-6 6-3 6-3 7-6(5).

https://twitter.com/AustralianOpen/status/1878732178512585009

After losing the first set to world No.63 Safiullin, a former Australian Open boys’ singles champion, Kokkinakis led 5-2 in the second when he called for the physio then left the court for further treatment.

Despite his obvious discomfort, the 28-year-old closed out the second set to level the match, then banked the third to the delight of the Kia Arena crowd.

Regularly wincing in pain in the fourth set, the injury-prone world No.71 showed his grit, saving an incredible 18 break points from 22 through the match.

While the South Australian changed his shirt, he kept his blue shorts which featured images of Spartan soldiers in a nod to his ancestry.

Kokkinakis dropped his serve to trail 3-4 but then stared down Safiullin, breaking straight back.

The pair continued to go toe to toe, taking the set to a tiebreak, with the big-serving Australian able to seal the win after four hours and five minutes on court.

A winner of the men’s doubles title with Nick Kyrgios in 2023, Kokkinakis said the crowd lifted him to victory.

“You guys willed me through. I was struggling there, I was cooked,” he said in his on-court interview.

“I tweaked something but I took some pain killers and battled through, as I had to pull out of Adelaide and didn’t want to pull out here.

“I’m super happy to get another crazy win.”

Kokkinakis will face British 15th seed Jack Draper in the second round.

Schoolkate edges familiar foe 

In a rematch of last year’s US Open first round, Tristan Schoolkate defeated Japanese player, Taro Daniel, 6-7(8), 7-6(4) 6-1 6-4.

“You can’t really script that you’re gonna play that same player. We organised a practice on Saturday. I thought the chances were that I couldn’t play him again but sure enough I did,” Schoolkate chuckled.

Splitting two tight sets to start the match, Schoolkate said the second set tiebreak was crucial to his victory.

“Very happy with the way I turned that around. (I’m) glad that I won that second set so I didn’t have to come from two sets to love down.”

While he won his first Grand Slam match at the US Open last year, Schoolkate described his first Australian Open win as a different feeling entirely.

“Winning my first main draw match at the US Open last year was an unbelievable feeling but it’s different here. Pretty crazy to win in front of a crowd like that. It’s unbelievable.”

Schoolkate next faces the toughest task in tennis – world No.1, Jannik Sinner.

> READ MORE: No place like home as McCabe and Duckworth advance at AO 2025 

Vukic battles through in five

 Aleksandar Vukic battled past Bosnian, Damir Dzumhur in a topsy-turvy match, 6-7(3) 6-0 3-6 6-3 6-4.

With his first direct entry into the AO main draw, the 28-year-old recorded his fourth Grand Slam win and was relieved after just falling short last year.

“Very tricky match. This one had a lot of momentum swings. A lot of ups and downs. Then to get through it in the end after losing in the fifth set last year, it was a good feeling,” Vukic said.

Like Schoolkate, Vukic credited the home crowd for helping him get through, particularly when the chips are down.

“Having the crowd support is massive, obviously. You go through some dark places as well through these matches so to always hear them in these moments, you feel like you’re reborn,” he said.

“Every time I play a grand slam gives me more experience and now I’ve played more and more five setters so you kind of know the feeling more.

Vukic faces American 22^nd seed, Sebastian Korda, in the second round.

> READ MORE: Jordan Thompson off to winning start at AO 2025

Aussies shine on Day 2

It topped an incredible day of tennis for Australian players in first-round action at Melbourne Park.

Nine of the 12 locals in action at Melbourne Park advanced to the third round, including Talia Gibson, Ajla Tomljanovic, Destanee Aiava,  Jordan Thompson, James McCabe and James Duckworth.

Maya Joint  fell to seeded American Jessica Pegula, while Nick Kyrgios’ return from injury stalled against Brit Jacob Fearnley.

Find your way to play: Visit play.tennis.com.au to hit the court and have some fun!