{"id":411884,"date":"2026-01-14T08:15:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T08:15:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/411884\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T08:15:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T08:15:08","slug":"tennis-atp-adelaide-international-2026-vacherot-eliminates-kokkinakis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/411884\/","title":{"rendered":"Tennis, ATP \u2013 Adelaide International 2026: Vacherot eliminates Kokkinakis"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mon\u00e9gasque Valentin Vacherot, the No 5 seed, advanced to the quarter-finals of the Adelaide International<\/a> after Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis<\/a> withdrew before the match on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n

The 29-year-old South Australian, who had been sidelined for nearly a year following a radical pectoral surgery, officially pulled out just 48 hours after a grueling three-set victory over Sebastian Korda (3-6, 6-3, 7-6).<\/p>\n

Vacherot, ranked No 31, will play the winner of the match between Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, the top seed, and Australian wildcard Rinky Hijikata next.<\/p>\n

Writing on Instagram on Wednesday, Kokkinakis told his fans: \u201cVery sad to have to pull out of my favourite event. Unfortunately my arm isn\u2019t quite ready yet after missing a year off\u2026 See you next year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thanasi Kokkinakis\u2019 long-awaited return to professional singles tennis ended in heartbreak with this withdrawal, admitting he had to question \u201cat what cost\u201d he was competing after a fresh shoulder injury.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a pec surgery [last year], that was more muscle; this one is in my shoulder,\u201d Kokkinakis told reporters following his first-round win, where he was visibly in distress. \u201cI have had a shoulder surgery as well, but that was probably caused from the surgery I had to the pec. So there\u2019s a lot of niggles and a lot of things going on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kokkinakis: \u2018AT WHAT COST?\u2019<\/p>\n

The withdrawal casts a significant shadow over Kokkinakis\u2019 participation in the Australian Open, which begins on Sunday. Despite his victory over Korda, in which his service speed dropped by 20kmh during the second set, the world number 670 admitted he had considered retiring mid-match.<\/p>\n


\n \"\"
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI probably wouldn\u2019t have played to start with [if it wasn\u2019t a home tournament],\u201d Kokkinakis said. \u201cI had conversations with my team: I was like: \u2018At what cost am I playing? Even if I get through this match, so what?’\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cI know what tomorrow is looking like for me \u2013 and I don\u2019t love it. Fingers crossed, the anti-inflammatories work some wonders.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

RADICAL SURGERY<\/p>\n

Kokkinakis\u2019 2025 season was entirely erased by a procedure few tennis players have ever attempted. In February 2025, surgeons used a donor Achilles tendon \u2013 an allograft from a deceased donor \u2013 to repair a chronic pectoral tear by knotting it between his muscle and shoulder.<\/p>\n

\u201cI essentially cut half my pec off,\u201d Kokkinakis explained of the 2025 procedure. \u201cI had a bald scar tissue that I was playing with for five or so years\u2026 No physio or doctor that I saw was really comfortable and confident of which was the right way to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reflecting on his latest setback, he noted: \u201cI had the surgery so I could back up matches and go through a tournament. But I\u2019ll never really find out until I go through a long match and see where I\u2019m at after.\u201d<\/p>\n

MELBOURNE UNCERTAINTY<\/p>\n

The Australian is currently entered into the year\u2019s first Grand Slam using a protected ranking. His withdrawal from Adelaide hands Vacherot, the 2025 Shanghai champion, a walkover into the quarter-finals.<\/p>\n

While he remains on the entry list for Melbourne Park, where he is also scheduled to partner Nick Kyrgios in doubles, his physical status is now officially listed as \u201cday-to-day.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mon\u00e9gasque Valentin Vacherot, the No 5 seed, advanced to the quarter-finals of the Adelaide International after Australian Thanasi…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":411885,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[64,63,85,747],"class_list":["post-411884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411884","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=411884"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411884\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/411885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=411884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=411884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=411884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}