Who Is Thanasi Kokkinakis’ Coach in 2022?

Last Updated on June 28, 2022

Athanasios “Thanasi” Kokkinakis is an Australian tennis player of Greek descent who’s been a professional since 2013. On June 8 th, 2015, he reached number 69 in the ATP ranking in singles, while on July 27 he reached number 137 in doubles. He has won an ATP singles title, and three titles in the ATP Challenger Series category in doubles, and four at the individual level, including the 2015 Bordeaux Challenger.

He is a former Top-10 junior, who earned 1st. ranking point eight days after 15th birthday in 2011, and achieved career-high No. 69 at age 19 in 2015. Kokkinakis advanced to 3 Grand Slam junior finals in 2013, winning Wimbledon boys’ doubles title w/Kyrgios and finishing as boys’ singles runner-up at Australian Open and US Open.

He captured his first ATP Tour title in hometown at 2022 Adelaide-2 as 145th-ranked WC, after reaching 1st QF, SF and final at 2017 Los Cabos as 454th-ranked WC. In 2018, he defeated No. 1 of the ATP World Ranking, Roger Federer, in 2018 Miami 2R as 175th-ranked Q. At that time, he became the lowest-ranked player to beat World No. 1 since No. 178 Clavet beat Hewitt in 2003 Miami 2R.

Thanasi won the 2022 Australian Open doubles title as 434th-ranked WC with countryman Kyrgios, defeating Ebden/Purcell in 1st All-Aussie Grand Slam doubles final since the 1980 Australian Open. His best performance in a Grand Slam was the 3rd. Round in Roland Garros 2015, with Todd Langman as his head coach.

Current coaches

Todd Langman: he’s Thanasi’s current trainer. He has coached Kokkinakis at both the junior and professional levels: from 2003 to 2015, and from 2015 to the present. He has been a coach since 1998. Highlights of their partnership include: finals at the Australian Open and US Open at the junior level, reaching the Top 10 in the junior world rankings; career-high ranking of World No. 69 in 2015 in the ATP Rankings; one ATP Tour singles final in Los Cabos in 2017. 

Before Thanasi, Longman has coached Jarmila Gajdosova on the WTA Tour (career-high ranking of World No. 25), Alex Bolt, and Todd Ley. He also has coached five junior Grand Slam players from the beginning of their playing careers. Also, he has coached national champions and junior Australian representatives, such as Isabella Ryles, Tayla Whitehouse, Petra Hule and Charlotte Kempenaers.

Jason Stoltenberg: he’s been Thannis’s mentor since 2015. He began playing tennis at age 10 on an ant bed court where his father owned a cotton farm in the Far West of New South Wales. He played in the Atlanta Olympics and lost in the second round in singles. He has a 9-5 career Davis Cup record in eight ties.

In 1987, as a junior, he won the Australian Open. At that time, he became the No. 1 junior player in the world. He turned professional later that year. He won four titles as a single player, and five double titles.. In 1996, he reached the semifinals at Wimbledon, when he was defeated by eventual champion Richard Krajicek. In the Davis Cup, he was part of the team that lost the final against Germany. He reached the 19th position of the ATP World Ranking as a single, and the No. 23 place as a double player. He retired in 2001.

As a coach, he trained Leyton Hewitt between 2001 and 2003, when the aussie was the number one of the world, and won Wimbledon, the Tennis Master Cup and ATP Masters 1000 of Indian Wells.

Leyton Hewitt: he’s been Thannis’s mentor since 2015. He is the youngest men’s No. 1  ever, when in 2001, at the age of 20, he reached that position in the ATP World Ranking. He won two Grand Slam titles: the U.S. Open, after beating Pete Sampras, and Wimbledon over David Nalbandian, as well as the US Open doubles in 2000 with Max Mirnyi. He also won 28 other ATP singles titles since turning pro in 1998 at age 16. He was again No. 1 for 2002.

He made his Davis Cup debut that July against the United States, launching the successful drive to the Cup with a leadoff win over Todd Martin, 6-4, 6-7 (1-7), 6-3, 6-0. Lleyton led his nation to three more finals, losing to Spain (2000) and France (2001), defeating Spain in 2003 as he set the pace, downing Juan Carlos Ferrero, 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7-0), 6-2.

Previous coach

Ben Mathias: he was Thanis’s coach from 2016 to 2017. He is well known as one of the best aussies coaches in the world. He is responsible for the resurgence of Sam Groth, and he worked with players such as James Dukworth, John Millman and Luke Saville. As a player, his highest ranking was No. 768.