Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis will be back on the Wimbledon stage after being drawn against No 10 seed Alexander Bublik, with his appearance at the All England Club representing one of the most remarkable comebacks in the game’s recent history.
Kokkinakis became a Grand Slam champion when he lifted the Australian Open doubles title with his pal Nick Kyrgios back in January 2022 and he also won his first ATP Tour singles title in the same month as he lifted the silverware in Adelaide.
Yet injuries have constantly disrupted his progress throughout his career and a pectoral problem threatened to bring his career to an end for a player who toasted his 30th birthday in April.
It was after a five-set defeat against Britain’s Jack Draper that Kokkinakis accepted his career had reached a crossroads, with the medical intervention he turned as radical as it could get.
He underwent surgery in February 2025, with “Achilles of a deceased person” attached to his pectoral muscle in what was a final attempt to solve his injury woes.
More Tennis News
Novak Djokovic, Aryna Sabalenka & Coco Gauff speak out on Serena Williams’ Wimbledon comeback
There was uncertainty whether it would work or if he could ever play tennis again, but Kokkinakis won a round at the French Open last month amid emotional scenes and now he is relishing his Wimbledon return.
Speaking exclusively to Tennis365 at The Boodles exhibition event at Stoke Park, Kokkinakis outlined his journey back to Wimbledon.
“I’ve had a peck problem since 2019 and I’ve been kind of trying to play through and manage it, but backing up matches was the tricky part,” he told Tennis365.
“So I hit a point in 2025 where I played a couple of matches in Adelaide when I said to myself, okay, I’ve got to do something.
“So I knew before I played the Australian Open last year, after I played Roman Safiullin and Jack Draper, I knew that I’d have to try something and go in for a surgery because if I didn’t, that was career over for me.
“I just needed to try everything to see if I could get back playing at a decent level. So yeah, going into the Draper match, I knew that whatever happened, that was probably my last match win or lose because I wouldn’t have been able to play the next one anyway.
“So I had a surgery and it’s been a year and a half or so since then, and trying to come back and find my feet and adjust to kind of a new arm and see what happens.
“Essentially, this all came down to some bad physio advice I got a long time ago and I kept trying to play through and make it worse.”
No one has tried to play professional tennis after an operation like this, but Kokkinakis is eager to explore his boundaries.
“ It’s very rare in general to have surgery like this and for a tennis player, no one has tried it,” he stated.
“I saw a bunch of doctors and a few didn’t want to operate on it. They thought it would be too risky.
“I was in a bit of a hole in my career and I had to try something. So let’s see what happens next and what I’ve got left. I wanted to try and give myself 12 months since coming back and playing and see how I feel.
“It was tough after the surgery. It was a long way back. We are here now, so let’s see where it goes.”
Want more from Tennis365? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for tennis coverage you can trust.
Kokkinakis admits every match he plays now feels like a bonus, with his excitement ahead of his Wimbledon return palpable.
“I can’t wait to got back to Wimbledon,” he added. “I had a big win there a couple of years ago against Felix Auger-Aliassime in five sets and that was special. I’d love to have a moment like that again.”
The back story behind some of the players competing at Wimbledon this year highlights the passion they have to get onto the courts, with few fighting harder than Kokkinakis to continue his dream.
READ NEXT: Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner are ‘as good as the Big 3’, claims Grand Slam champion
The post Why Thanasi Kokkinakis’ Wimbledon comeback may be the most remarkable of them all appeared first on Tennis365.
Leave a Reply