Kokkinakis close to a 2nd consecutive miracle against Fritz

Thanasi Kokkinakis came within a whisker of another exceptional comeback against Taylor Fritz in the 3rd round of the French Open. Having beaten Giulio Zeppieri in the 2nd round when trailing 2 sets to 0 (1-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6, 6-2), the Australian came close to repeating the feat on Saturday.

Largely dominated by Fritz in the first two sets, the Australian managed to snatch the third in the tie-break to get back on track. In the fourth, he even managed to reverse the situation in extremis as the American served for the match.

All the ingredients were there for the magic to happen again. Kokkinakis was the first to get break points in the fifth set, but Fritz had better nerves and finally made the difference in the sixth game to win 10 minutes later (6-3).

Fritz will face Ruud in the last 16 on Monday.