Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios' dream of becoming the second all-Australian team to win the prestigious ATP Finals has been dashed.
The reigning Australian Open champions needed to beat Croatian pair Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic in their final round-robin clash at Turin today to advance to the semifinals. They put up a good fight, but were edged out in two tiebreak sets.
World No.7 Pavic and world No.10 Mektic, who won five ATP titles during 2022, claimed a 7-6(4) 7-6(4) victory to maintain their unbeaten record at this week's season-ending championships.
Kokkinakis and Kyrgios served 17 aces and did not face a break point in the 90-minute clash, but it wasn't enough to overcome the Wimbledon 2022 finalists.
It concludes an incredible season for Kokkinakis and Kyrgios, who won 19 of their 25 matches together. They won two titles, the Australian Open and Atlanta, and both achieved career-high rankings - Kokkinakis at world No.17 and Kyrgios at world No.11.
| ATP Finals - Red group final standings | ||
| Team | Win-loss record | |
| 1 | [4] Nikola Mektic (CRO)/Mate Pavic (CRO) | 3-0 |
| 2 | [1] Wesley Koolhof (NED)/Neal Skupski (GBR) | 2-1 |
| 3 | [8] Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS)/Nick Kyrgios (AUS) | 1-2 |
| 4 | [5] Ivan Dodig (CRO)/Austin Krajicek (USA) | 0-3 |
Kokkinakis now travels to Spain to compete in next week's Davis Cup Finals, where Australia faces the Netherlands in a quarterfinal showdown on Tuesday.
Aussies in action - ATP Finals
RESULTS
Men's doubles, round robin
[4] Nikola Mektic (CRO)/Mate Pavic (CRO) d [8] Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS)/Nick Kyrgios (AUS) 7-6(4) 7-6(4)
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