Adelaide, Australia, 3 January 2023 | Leigh Rogers

Home-town favourite Thanasi Kokkinakis has made a winning return at the Adelaide International.

The Australian wildcard posted a hard-fought 7-6(5) 7-6(7) victory against world No.34 Maxime Cressy in first-round action at The Drive this evening.

In front of a passionate local crowd, Kokkinakis fired 21 aces to edge out his American opponent in a two-hour and 11-minute battle.

“That was crazy,” Kokkinakis said, thanking the crowd. “The atmosphere and the support helped me get through that.”

It is Kokkinakis’ sixth consecutive victory at the tournament, having scooped his first ATP singles title in Adelaide last summer.

This also marks the 26-year-old Kokkinakis’ first top-50 win since August – and just his third since his title-winning in Adelaide last January.

Kokkinakis now faces either world No.15 Jannik Sinner or Brit Kyle Edmund in the second round.

Earlier today, Australian qualifier Alexei Popyrin stunned world No.6 Felix Auger-Aliassime in a thrilling first-round battle.

“I had a really, really tough season last year and to come out after qualifying and to beat a player of his quality just showed the work I did in the off-season is paying off already,” said world No.120 Popyrin.

> READ MORE: Popyrin scores career-best win in Adelaide

The Adelaide International, a combined ATP 250 and WTA 500 event, is part of a two-week Adelaide Festival of Tennis. The festival includes back-to-back tournaments and concludes on 14 January.

> BUY NOW: Adelaide International tickets

AUSSIES IN ACTION – Adelaide

TODAY’S RESULTS
Men’s singles, first round
[WC] Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) d Maxime Cressy (USA) 7-6(5) 7-6(7)
[Q] Alexei Popyrin (AUS) d [2] Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) 6-4 7-6(5)
Quentin Halys (FRA) d [WC] Jordan Thompson (AUS) 6-3 6-4
Miomir Kecmanovic (SRB) d [WC] Chris O’Connell (AUS) 6-4 6-4

Women’s singles, first round
[Q] Marta Kostyuk (UKR) d [WC] Jaimee Fourlis (AUS) 6-1 3-6 6-4

Women’s doubles, first round
Kaitlyn Christian (USA)/Sabrina Santamaria (USA) d [WC] Kimberly Birrell (AUS)/Priscilla Hon (AUS) 6-3 6-4

COMING UP
Men’s singles, first round
[Q] Rinky Hijikata (AUS) v [7] Denis Shapovalov (CAN)

Men’s singles, second round
[WC] Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) v TBC
[Q] Alexei Popyrin (AUS) v Marcos Giron (USA)

> VIEW: Full Adelaide International men’s singles draw

Women’s singles, first round
[WC] Priscilla Hon (AUS) v [Q] Claire Liu (USA)

> VIEW: Full Adelaide International women’s singles draw

Men’s doubles, first round
[8] Matt Ebden (AUS)/Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi(PAK) v Bye
Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS)/Jordan Thompson (AUS) v Mackenzie McDonald (USA)/Marcelo Melo (BRA)
[WC] John Millman (AUS)/Edward Winter (AUS) v Nicolas Barrientos (COL)/Ariel Behar (URU)
[WC] James Duckworth (AUS)/Alexei Popyrin (AUS) v Jannik Sinner (ITA)/Lorenzo Sonego (ITA)

Women’s doubles, second round
[1] Storm Hunter (AUS)/Katerina Siniakova (CZE) v Veronika Kudermetova/Liudmila Samsonova
[3] Ellen Perez (AUS)/Nicole Melichar-Martinez (USA) v Cristina Bucsa (ESP)/Makoto Ninomiya (JPN)

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