Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis have crashed out of the Australian Open doubles with injuries playing a part in their loss to compatriots Marc Polmans and Jason Kubler.
The 2022 champions looked on track for victory after leading by a break in the deciding third set, but Polmans and Kubler fought back to win 6-4 4-6 7-6(4) in a typically entertaining clash at a packed Kia Arena.
Both Kyrgios and Kokkinakis withdrew from singles through injury and they both struggled during the third set as they match went beyond the two-hour mark.
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Kokkinakis winced when serving at 3-1 and while he was able to hold serve, he immediately took a medical timeout and had work done on his shoulder.
He was able to continue and battled on bravely, but Kyrgios then began to struggle with his bandaged knee causing him grief as the match headed towards a tiebreaker.
There was early drama in the tiebreaker with Polmans and Kubler asking the umpire to review Kokkinakis’ volley that would have leveled the scores at 2-2.
But replays showed Kokkinakis hit the ball before crossing the net, which gave Polmans and Kubler the early mini break.
From that point they played smart while the unforced errors piled up from the other side of the court.
Polmans and Kubler quickly skipped out to a 9-3 lead to silence the crowd that were hoping to see another big run from the Special Ks.
Kyrgios and Kokkinakis did their best to ignite the crowd throughout the match and had the court rocking with a series of spectacular shots.
There was also the usual drama that comes with a Kyrgios match as he copped a code violation, exchanged words with the umpire and swore at a heckler.
But Polmans and Kubler stuck to their guns to seal the impressive victory.
They are one of two all-Aussie pairings still in the doubles tournament.
James McCabe and Li Tu had already booked their spot in the second round and will play British top seeds Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool.
Kyrgios will return to the court on Friday night when he teams up with Canadian star Leylah Fernandez in the mixed doubles.
