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Kokkinakis overcomes injury scare to reach semis

Thanasi Kokkinakis has won his third match in a row to reach the semi-finals of an ATP Challenger tournament in Morelos, Mexico.

The Australian world No.215, who is on the comeback trail from another injury, defeated No.1 seed Andrej Martin 3-6 7-6 (9-7) 6-2 in two hours and 23 minutes on Thursday night local time.

Kokkinakis turned his left ankle late in the third set but maintained a superior level to serve out the match with consecutive aces against his 132nd-ranked opponent.

It's the first time the oft-injured 21-year-old has played three singles matches at a tournament since August 2017.

His only previous competitive match of the year came when he suffered a pectoral issue in a first-round loss at the Australian Open.

Thanasi Kokkinakis. Pic: Getty
Thanasi Kokkinakis. Pic: Getty

Kokkinakis corrected his serve after a wayward first set against Martin to send down eight aces in the final two frames.

The Australian, who is in line to re-enter the top 200 on Monday, will face Chile's Christian Garin or Kazakhstani eighth seed Dmitry Popko for a place in the final.

He will have little time to rest after the Morelos tournament after accepting a wildcard into next week's ATP 500 event in Acapulco.

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Elsewhere on the Challenger tour, Jordan Thompson is into the semi-finals in Kyoto, while Blake Ellis and John Millman will play their separate quarter-finals there on Friday.

Meanwhile, Australian countryman Nick Kyrgios will not make his comeback in Mexico after withdrawing from the tournament on Friday.

The 22-year-old is battling an elbow injury that flared up during the recent Davis Cup loss to Germany.

FULL STORY: Kyrgios facing a rankings fall out of the top 20