Nick Kyrgios will make his long-awaited return to competitive tennis at the Brisbane International when he takes on 21-year-old Frenchman Giovanni Perricard.
It will be the first tour-level appearance by Kyrgios since the Stuttgart Open in June, 2023.
The 29-year-old has been mostly sidelined with career-threatening wrist and knee injuries since reaching the 2022 US Open quarter-finals.
His first-round opponent Perricard, the world No.31, will be no pushover when they clash, likely on Monday, but Kyrgios had his first practice session with big serving American gun Reilly Oelka on Saturday in what he said was ideal preparation for the Frenchman.
He said his wrist came through with flying colours.
"Yeah, it felt good. It was definitely a step up returning that serve from the practice court but it was good to go right in the heat of the pace of the ATP Tour," Kyrgios said.
"He's got one of the biggest serves. To test my wrist out against that ... I play Perricard which is arguably the biggest serve on tour.
"It was good preparation.I actually booked Reilly a week ago not knowing the draw at all.
"I'm thinking about waking up, doing the right things for my wrist, my body, try to get back on the court and stack the days together."
Kyrgios, who won the Brisbane International in 2018, will partner superstar Novak Djokovic in doubles.
While at Wimbledon this year working in commentary, Kyrgios hit with former world No.1 Djokovic and the record-setting Serb proved an unlikely source of inspiration.
“I was hitting with Novak and when he said to me, ‘It doesn’t look like you’ve had surgery’, and that was a big motivation to say like maybe I’m actually making some inroads and some progress into getting back, because I didn’t really know," Kyrgios said.
“That was a big drive for me. If he didn’t say that, I don’t know if I would have been motivated and if I would have kept pushing on the thought, but that was definitely a big part of the journey when he said that to me.”
Djokovic is the No.1 seed at the Brisbane International and will play Australia's Rinky Hijikata in the opening round.
Kyrgios and Djokovic are in the top half of the draw and are not slated to play each other until the semi-finals should they both win through.
Australia's world No.26 Jordan Thompson has a tough opening match against Italy's Matteo Berrettini.
"Yeah it’s a tough one. He’s been playing great tennis. He broke our hearts at Davis Cup against Thanasi (Kokkinakis)," Thompson said.
"He’s got a big game and is a Wimbledon finalist and US Open semi-finalist
"When you play tennis you have to beat whoever is in front of you to win the tournament anyway."
