Australian Open: Kokkinakis vs Fognini Tennis Prediction & Pick

TennisSection previews the 2023 Australian Open as Thanasi Kokkinakis takes on Fabio Fognini in the Round of 128 on Tuesday, January 17, 2023.

Will Thanasi Kokkinakis get the win? Will Fabio Fognini pull off the upset? This will be a fascinating one, where we have a home favorite with some good wins under his belt coming up against a fiery opponent in what is likely to be a heated match. Who will triumph and move through to the Round of 64 at the 2023 Australian Open?

Thanasi Kokkinakis got some good wins under his belt despite the couple of losses he’s suffered so far. Despite this, it’s difficult to mark him as a clear favorite here considering last year he won Adelaide 2, and he was upset in the first round. Fabio Fognini is still about 100 ranking spots ahead, but even still I think their levels are similar. Kokkinakis is a slight favorite in my opinion since we’re in Australia, but it’ll be a tough match here at the 2023 Australian Open.

Fabio Fognini hasn’t played that much tennis recently, and he hasn’t been having many deep runs either. However, he’s played some competitive matches and his level is still around the top 50 in my opinion. He’s getting older and it may be tough to pull his usual antics against a guy like Thanasi Kokkinakis in this atmosphere, but I am expecting a feisty match for sure. Let’s see what Fognini can do with little matches under his belt to have a puncher’s chance for a place in the Round of 64 at the 2023 Australian Open.

Thanasi Kokkinakis and Fabio Fognini have met twice before, with Thanasi Kokkinakis leading the head to head 2-0. Especially considering the head to head, I was generous to give Fognini the 5 sets, however, mostly due to last year’s drop and the fact that Thanasi can get very unreliable at times I made that choice. I’ll still pick Kokkinakis but we’ll be in for a great match to kick things off at the 2023 Australian Open.