Thanasi Kokkinakis concedes his debilitating pectoral muscle injury will likely force him to pull out of his hotly-anticipated 'Special Ks' doubles reunion with Nick Kyrgios.

Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis's bid to repeat their Australian Open doubles triumph of 2022 ended in retirement in on Thursday when the latter was unable to continue their first-round tie. Kokki

Injury-riddled Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios were forced to retire early in their men's doubles reunion at Melbourne Park after a set and a half.

Australian doubles pair James Duckworth and Aleksandar Vukic have eased into the second round of the men's doubles after opponents Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis retired during the second set of their match on John Cain Arena.

Kokkinakis battled with his pectoral trouble during his marathon second-round loss to No.15 seed Jack Draper and later confirmed it was a long-standing issue that had him going through "mental torture and physical torture". He conceded he would probably have to pull out of doubles as another long stint on the sidelines awaits.

The Australian suffered a second-round defeat to 15th-seeded Brit Jack Draper on Wednesday night after more than 4½ hours on court.