Copyright © 2015. No duplication is permitted without permission from Bob Larson Tennis.

Greek-Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis seems to have made at least as big of an impression in the land of their ancestors than perhaps at home, with the tennis player now labeled as a huge Hellenic hit.

Australian media report that the young gun is drawing popular attention in Greece, with Kokkinakis participating this autumn in a television promotion with the OTE Sport channel which drew a huge viewer response.

The Greek-speaking teenager who still has relatives living in the old country played an exhibition against a rising Greek player, with attendance at the match a prize in the OTE competition. So much in demand was the Aussie import that Kokkinakis must have felt like Roger Federer during the long time he took signing autographs for supporters after the exhibition.

Kokkinakis is said to love Greek food over any other and hangs out on the ATP with Cypriot mate Marcos Baghdatis as the pair search for Greek restaurants around the world when they are playing the same events.

But Kokkinakis told Fox Sports that his main priorities lie with his tennis, with his upcoming second full year on the Tour promising to be a challenge. “The second year is tough because players are starting to work out how you play. They work out your game so it becomes more difficult.

“When you’re new, they haven’t seen you before so they might be a bit surprised. Now they know what they’re seeing so that means I’ve got to work on all aspects of my game. I need to have no weaknesses so they don’t know where to hit the ball. I need to close my weaknesses. . . make them rock tight.”

The 80th-ranked Kokkinakis called 2015 “a good year for me, breaking into the top 100 and having good results at the slams as well. It was a good stepping stone and I achieved what I wanted to. Now I’ve just got to keep building and try to raise my ranking next year.”

Copyright © 2015. No duplication is permitted without permission from Bob Larson Tennis.