Kokkinakis closes in on Indian Wells main draw after qualifying run

Thanasi Kokkinakis has to play to qualifiers in Indian Wells to make it to the main draw of the event and he started well beating Yuichi Sugita in the first round.

Kokkinakis had some great performances to start the year but he has also been quite inconsistent. He fumbled a really big lead against Andy Murray in Melbourne robbing himself of many points. He did finally get a trophy in Bahrein winning a challenger event there but it was still not enough to avoid qualifiers here.

He played well in the first round beating Yuichi Sugita in straight sets to secure the second round. A fairly decent match although a bit slow to start which is why he needed a tiebreak to get it done. The second set was much easier but the next matchup promises to be a much tougher one. Matteo Arnaldi from Italy is a rising talent who took down former US Open quarter-finalist Lloyd Harris in straight sets.

If he wins that match, he'll be in the main draw of the event. If he loses he'll have to hope to enter as a lucky loser but the chances would be minimal.