Nick Kyrgios has made himself available for Monday night's Fast4 exhibition tournament in Sydney despite struggling with a knee injury throughout the Hopman Cup.
The 22-year-old flew home to Canberra on Friday to recover from the injury that clearly hampered his performance during Thursday night's loss to American Jack Sock in Perth.
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Laver: I want Kyrgios to be world's best
Rod Laver believes that Nick Kyrgios has all the tools to be the next great Australian player.
There were fears Kyrgios' latest setback could force him to withdraw from the Fast4 event at the 11th hour, however Fairfax Media has been told Kyrgios has vowed to play in the third instalment of the shortened concept at Sydney's new exhibition centre.
Almost 7000 tickets have been sold for Monday night's exhibition tournament that will see Kyrgios and fellow Australian Bernard Tomic square off against Rafael Nadal and Kei Nishikori.
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The world No.13 had an MRI scan on his injured knee the morning of his straight-sets loss to Sock, confirming there had been some damage that was the "start of some bone stuff in my knee".
"It's not terrible, but it's not great," Kyrgios said.
"I just need to rest now and a couple of days without the load and I should be back to normal. I think I have some time. A thing like this won't take too long."
Tournament organisers didn't have to rush to make a contingency plan, but with Lleyton Hewitt to coach the Australian team against "the world", and Thanasi Kokkinakis coming to town as a wildcard for the Sydney International, there was no shortage of potential replacements.
Kyrgios, who started his 2017 campaign with two wins and a loss at the Hopman Cup, is a big believer in the shortened version of the game and recently told Fairfax Media that he believed it had a future in the sport.
"It's a great concept and something I really enjoyed doing last year," he said.
"I think it has legs, I really do. And I'd like to see it rolled out elsewhere too – especially in the lead-up to other slams. As for teaming up with Bernie, how can I not be looking forward to it? He's one of the best players in the world, he's Aussie and he's a mate."
Kyrgios is also scheduled to play in Adelaide before arriving in Melbourne for his Australian Open assault – a tournament he believes he has the ability to win this year.
All eyes will be on the Australian when he returns to Melbourne Park after a stint on the sidelines through suspension after his meltdown in Shanghai.
Kyrgios has since been seeing a sports psychologist to help battle his mental demons, describing his time away from the game as a blessing in disguise.
He will head into the Australian Open with his highest ranking at a grand slam, jumping from No.30 to No.13 in the world during the past 12 months despite limited time on tour.
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