Pub rock tennis: How Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis are bringing crowds back to doubles

It is a little after 3:30pm on a lazy summer day and Rafael Nadal, he of so many grand slam wins it's long ago became very hard to keep track of them all, and Denis Shapovalov, who is likely to win a few of his own in the future, are on centre stage. Do not adjust your set, Nine were airing the latest dispatch from the Special Ks, the Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis doubles campaign taking the Australian Open by storm. Kyrgios "wants to win this f***ing thing" and when asked if the semifinal should be played at Show Court Arena, Kokkinakis urged the crowd to "sink piss and come here" and to keep "ruffling feathers". Kyrgios is the biggest name in Australian men's tennis, but he is not the star of the show here — what makes the duo so compelling is the relationship between Kyrgios and Kokkinakis. Even when he could not escape his "tennis brat" image, he has always shown an affinity for teamwork, be it way back in 2015 when he had a whale of time mucking around with Genie Bouchard in mixed doubles at the US Open, or in playing Davis Cup or ATP Cup, where he shares a charming big brother-little brother dynamic with Alex di Minaur.