Thanasi Kokkinakis fought for a set and a half before the pain of a pectoral injury became too much at Melbourne Park on Tuesday.

Aussie No.2 John Millman, qualifier Thanasi Kokkinakis and wildcards James Duckworth and Kimberly Birrell are gearing up for a strong start to 2019 at the Australian Open.

Thanasi Kokkinakis has qualified for a Grand Slam main draw for the first time in his career, and later on Friday, Astra Sharma did the same.

Thanasi Kokkinakis stands one win away from a place in the main draw at Australian Open 2019, as do fellow second-round winners Astra Sharma and Naiktha Bains.

Thanasi Kokkinakis moves to within two wins of the Australian Open main draw after seeing off Mohamed Safwat in straight sets on Tuesday.

Thanasi Kokkinakis qualifies for the Brisbane International to make it eight Aussie men in the main draw, while Destanee Aiava qualifies for the second time in three years.

After winning his second Challenger title of 2018 in Las Vegas, Thanasi Kokkinakis discusses his desire to rise in the rankings again - and he's not averse to grinding it…

Thanasi Kokkinakis wins his second ATP Challenger title of 2018 and returns to the cusp of the world's top 150.

Still managing some injury niggles, Thanasi Kokkinakis plans to head to the US for another swing of Challenger events in a bid to rebuild his ranking.

Thanasi Kokkinakis levels his head-to-head series against Bernard Tomic with a win over his fellow Aussie in the first round of qualifying. There were also victories for Alex…