Kokkinakis: "I Have the Achilles Tendon of a Dead Person in My Arm"

Raquel Bermúdez Rodríguez | 4 Jan 2026 | 21.00

Kokkinakis: "I Have the Achilles Tendon of a Dead Person in the Arm." Photo: Getty

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Just a couple of tournaments could Thanasi Kokkinakis play in the past season, a year marked by the uncertainty of an undecipherable injury for a large number of doctors. After going through several consultations, the Australian player underwent surgery to try to find a solution.

His return to the courts was at ATP Brisbane 2026, where, along with Nick Kyrgios, he defeated Ebden and Ram in the doubles category, a surprising result given the strange circumstances in which Kokkinakis arrived, leaving his future on the circuit uncertain.

Kokkinakis and a brutal process to return to the courts

"What I've experienced in the last 12 months is insane. I talked to many surgeons, many doctors, even with Rafa's doctor, and I wasn't very sure of what was happening. It was madness. No physiotherapist or doctor I saw felt comfortable or sure of the right path. I said I didn't want to continue doing the same thing. Before, I played a match and maybe got a great victory, but my arm was wrecked for the next two rounds. I thought I didn't care about not playing again, that I wasn't going to do it, because it was like a small sample of what I could do, and then I just had to retire.

Basically, I cut half of my pectoral. I had scar tissue without hair with which I played for about five years. I saw a lot of surgeons who didn't want to operate on me. They thought it was risky. I had never been operated on in tennis. I have an Achilles tendon allograft or the Achilles tendon of a deceased person in my arm, trying to attach my pectoral to the shoulder. It's very difficult to recover from that process because you don't have anyone to talk to because no one has done it. Many people tear the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and the Achilles tendon, which are brutal and terrible injuries, but in that case, many people have suffered them, so you know who to talk to and what to do," Kokkinakis revealed in a press conference.

An uncertain future

"I'm evaluating how things are going. There have been days when I'm fine and others when I think there's no chance I'll play again. It's been a very difficult journey this year, and I'm trying to take it day by day. There are many uncertainties, but I've just... trained hard to try to get myself in condition to be able to play a doubles match. I don't know what my future holds, but I've done everything possible to give myself at least a chance. My arm is a bit tired. I'm just trying, and I hope there's still something left in me."

Kyrgios's words about Kokkinakis

"People underestimate the amount of real work, just because we don't play full calendars, they underestimate the effort it really takes. You're more focused on managing the load, doing more physio, but you don't really know how to train or prepare. As he said, there's no one to turn to for advice on certain injuries.

It's something he's had to deal with virtually his entire career, and watching him play, we were very surprised by our level, to be honest. It didn't seem like we'd been out of the game for... it's been nearly a year, for Thanasi. We went through the qualifying rounds and faced two guys who are probably some of the best doubles players still active."