Injury forces Kokkinakis to withdraw as De Minaur presses on at Wimbledon

Thanasi Kokkinakis was forced to withdraw with a knee injury in the second round at Wimbledon.

Just 24 hours after downing Felix Auger-Aliassime in a five-set epic played over two days due to a rain delay, Kokkinakis slipped mid-point in the third set of his clash with Frenchman Lucas Pouille.

SEN tennis expert and The First Serve’s Brett Phillips explained what occurred on Court 8 at the All England Club in southwest London.

“That’s the headline. Geez, 24 hours is a long time in sport,” Phillips said on SEN Breakfast.

“After he heroics of his first-round win he’s a set apiece and 4-2 down in the third, one slip on the grass and pulled up pretty lame.

“There was a lot of bandaging put around his knee. He attempted to keep playing but pulled the pin and has a scan tomorrow.”

It is the same knee that prompted Kokkinakis to pull himself out of the recent Queen’s Club tournament.

“It’s on the inside of his knee which looks a little worse than Queen’s Club a couple of weeks ago when he injured that knee as well,” Phillips added.

“The young guy has been through a hell of a lot injury-wise, just as it was looking like he could get some momentum in this tournament.”

As Kokkinakis bows out, his compatriot Alex De Minaur rolls on.

The ninth seed made light work of Spaniard Jaume Munar in straight sets and will next face Pouille in the third round.

“Alex De Minaur won in straight sets and is looking very good, he is our main hope,” Phillips said.

Alexei Popyrin joined ‘The Demon’ in the next phase at Wimbledon after coming from a set down to edge Argentine Tomas Etcheverry in five sets.

He will meet the great Novak Djokovic in the third round.

In other key Aussie news, Daria Saville lost to Marta Kostyuk after winning the first set, while Rinky Hijikata and John Peers took care of the Murray brothers in the men’s doubles.