Armed with a dead man's Achilles in his shoulder, Thanasi Kokkinakis is back hitting groundstrokes pain-free after undergoing revolutionary surgery in a last-ditch effort to save his tennis career. After years of mental and physical "torture," Kokkinakis underwent pectoral reattachment surgery in February.

Entrusting the same respected doctor who completed career-reviving shoulder surgery on Pat Rafter and Shane Warne, Kokkinakis admitted to rolling the dice.

"It's a risk I took knowing that that might not be a chance," the one-time Roger Federer slayer told AAP on Friday.

"No tennis player's had the surgery that I've had before, so it's a risky one and the tough part is it's hard to bounce ideas off anyone.

"But I didn't want to keep doing what I was doing and playing through the pain

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