Thanasi Kokkinakis has gone some way towards vanquishing last year’s heartbreaking Australian Open loss to Andy Murray by claiming a typical five-set victory in his Melbourne Park opener.<\/p>\n
A year on from his 4am exit after a marathon with five-time runner-up Murray, no bonus casino mobile<\/a> Kokkinakis outlasted Austrian Sebastian Ofner 7-6 (7-1) 2-6 6-7 (4-7) 6-1 7-6 (10-8) in front of a raucous Kia Arena crowd.<\/p>\n In the process, the 27-year-old teed up a tantalising clash with 13th seed Grigor Dimitrov, who beat Marton Fucsovics earlier on Tuesday.<\/p>\n The gruelling four hour, 18 minute five-setter, coming back from a two-sets-to-one deficit, brought out the best out of the Australian.<\/p>\n “Mate, I wish I could do it easier but I can’t,” he said.<\/b><\/p>\n “I’ve got the mental focus of a three-year-old.<\/b><\/p>\n “However I can get it done, you guys (the crowd) are amazing. Without you, no chance I’m winning.”<\/b><\/p>\n Kokkinakis let last year’s second-round clash with Murray slip over the course of five hours and 45 minutes – the second-longest match in Open history.<\/p>\n When asked what was going on inside his head during the Ofner match, he said: “You don’t wanna know.<\/p>\n “Battling some serious demons, that’s for sure.<\/u><\/p>\n “I had a tough end to last year, tough start to this year and I know it’s the first round but this one meant a lot.<\/p>\n