Thanasi Kokkinakis’ Olympic preparations have been dealt a blow after his bag failed to arrive in Rio de Janeiro.
The 20-year-old is set to play in his first tournament since the Valencia Open last October. Kokkinakis has been out of action for ten months due to a shoulder injury which resulted in surgery at the end of 2015. Arriving in Rio on Monday, his training preparations has been halted due to the unexplained disappearance of his bag.
“They told me it should arrive late tomorrow afternoon so it’s a bit disappointing,” the 20-year-old told AAP.
“I’ll see what I can scrounge up and make do … it will be like the junior days.”
Reaching a career high of 69th last year, Kokkinakis admitted that he was unsure if he would even be able to return to action on the tour this year due to his troublesome right shoulder.
“It wasn’t looking good for the rest of the year with my shoulder, but then out of nowhere it started to feel a lot better,” he said.
“I can’t do any more harm so I’m looking forward to getting out and playing.”
It could be argued that Kokkinakis wouldn’t have returned to the tour yet if it wasn’t for the Olympic games. The Australian will be playing in the event for the first time in his career and has recently described the occasion as a dream of his.
Kokkinakis’ Rio mishap is the latest incident involving the Australian Olympic team. Officials have been involved in a heated argument with Olympic authorities over the state of their accommodation. Kitty Chiller, the head of the Australian delegation, complained that there was “blocked toilets, leaking pipes and exposed wiring.”
The issue was resolved before another incident erupted. A series of laptops and clothes was stolen from the hotel during a fire evacuation. Furthermore, it has been claimed that fire alarms has been deactivated in the venue.
The Opening ceremony for the Olympic Games will commence on Friday with the tennis competition starting the day after.
