VIDEO SHOWS: HIGHLIGHTS OF THE BRISBANE INTERNATIONAL DOUBLES MATCH BETWEEN NICK KYRGIOS AND THANASI KOKKINAKIS AGAINST MATTHEW EBDEN AND RAJEEV RAM/SOUNDBITES FROM KYRGIOS AND KOKKINAKIS RESENDING WITH SHOTLIST SHOWS: BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA (JANUARY 4, 2026) (ATP MEDIA/IMG – see restrictions before use) NICK KYRGIOS AND THANASI KOKKINAKIS V MATTHEW EBDEN AND RAJEEV RAM 1ST SET 1. MATTHEW EBDEN AND RAJEEV RAM WALK ONTO COURT 2. NICK KYRGIOS AND THANASI KOKKINAKIS WALK ONTO COURT 3. EBDEN SERVES, KOKKINAKIS WINS RALLY WITH FOREHAND DOWN THE LINE 4. RAM SERVES, EBDEN WINS RALLY WITH OVERHEAD SMASH 5. KOKKINAKIS SERVES, EBDEN WINS RALLY AND FIRST SET WITH HIGH FOREHAND VOLLEY 2ND SET 6. KYRGIOS SERVES, WINS RALLY WITH FOREHAND PASS 7. RAM SERVES, EBDEN WINS RALLY WITH FOREHAND ANGLED VOLLEY 8. KOKKINAKIS SERVES, WINS RALLY WITH FOREHAND PASS 9. RAM SERVES, KYRGIOS/KOKKINAKIS WIN RALLY AS RAM NETS BACKHAND VOLLEY 10.KYRGIOS SERVES, KOKKINAKIS WINS RALLY WITH FOREHAND PASS, KOKKINAKIS/KYRGIOS WIN SECOND SET 3RD SET 11.RAM SERVES, EBDEN WINS RALLY WITH OVERHEAD THAT DROPS SHORT 12. KYRGIOS SERVES, KOKKINAKIS WINS RALLY AND MATCH WITH FOREHAND APPROACH THROUGH THE MIDDLE/PLAYERS CELEBRATE/SHAKE HANDS AT THE NET/SHAKE HANDS WITH UMPIRE 13. (SOUNDBITE) (English) NICK KYRGIOS SPEAKING AFTER THEIR WIN, SAYING: "For sure, I think everything that Thanasi has gone through in the past year and myself, you know we've just been .. you know the sport of tennis was almost taken away from both of us, we had to come back out here and obviously our level is insane, I think no matter if we win or lose we always have the best time together on court and to do it here is pretty special, I know we both have some great memories here. Yeah, just glad that we got the W (win), it feels good to be back and competing and to still able to be competing at this level is pretty cool." 14. WHITE FLASH 15. (SOUNDBITE) (English) THANASI KOKKINAKIS SAYING: "It' crazy, I haven't played a match in 12 months .. I underwent surgery a year ago so with no guarantees I'd be back playing so it's been a long year, a challenging one, a lot of times where I thought the game was probably done for me so I chipped away at it, thank you to my team… I'm about to tear up (TURNS, LISTENS TO CROWD CHEERING). "It's doubles but it means everything and this is a good stepping stone so excited to be back here, thank you guys again, hopefully we can keep playing some good tennis." STORY: Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios reprised their triumphant Australian Open partnership by winning their opening match at the Brisbane International on Sunday (January 4), as the 'Special Ks' also marked their return from long-term injuries. It was the first match on the ATP tour in 167 days for Kyrgios, while Kokkinakis played for the first time since suffering a pectoral injury in January 2025, as the pair beat Matthew Ebden and Rajeev Ram 5-7, 6-4, 10-8. "I'm about to tear up," an emotional Kokkinakis said in the post-match interview. "It's crazy. I haven't played a match in 12 months… I underwent surgery a year ago with no guarantee I would be back playing. So it's been a long year, a challenging one a lot of times, where I thought the game was done for me. So I chipped away at it." Kyrgios and Kokkinakis won the men's doubles title in the Australian Open 2022. The pair reunited ahead of last year's Australian Open, but their campaign ended in the first round due to Kokkinakis's injury. "It's doubles but it means everything. This is a good stepping stone," Kokkinakis added. The Australian duo will face French sixth seeds Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul in the second round. (Production: Annette Faydenko)
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