Nick Kyrgios is positive about the improvement in his knee injury and optimistic about the impact of the Davis Cup environment on a career that resumes this week after his Australian Open meltdown.
Reiterating his intention to hire a coach, the world No.15 claimed he has "a couple" of potential candidates in mind.
Kyrgios will spearhead Australia's first-round tie against the Czech Republic at Kooyong from Friday, having returned from a stint in Miami to visit girlfriend Ajla Tomljanovic and train after his second-round loss to Andreas Seppi at Melbourne Park. Kyrgios said he was managing his knee problems and was confident of handling his emotions in the cocoon of a team environment led by captain Lleyton Hewitt.
"I think playing Davis Cup is going to improve my general well-being," he said. "I think this week it's good chemistry, it's obviously a good environment and it makes me happy being with these guys and getting out on the practice court and training, where usually when I'm by myself I struggle to find that motivation.
"So when I'm out here with these guys I train and I enjoy myself, so I think these weeks are pretty crucial for someone around my time and career, so I'm not gonna miss these weeks."
Bernard Tomic has, of course, and Kyrgios shared Hewitt's frustration with the Queenslander's unavailability. "As Lleyton said, you're not gonna beg guys to play, but it's disappointing not having him here. There's no reason why he should not be here."
Kyrgios is happy to be involved and confirmed he has thought more about hiring a coach for the non-cup months to follow. "I have. I think it's something I've got to do moving forward. I've got to 13 in the world without one, so hopefully with a coach I can improve my game and get there.
"It's not so much me being a bad listener, it's just finding someone that I know has my best interests at heart. It's tough to bring someone on the team that's not willing to care about me as a person first, and tennis second, so I've got find the right person."
Asked if he could have managed his Australian Open experience better, Kyrgios said: "Everyone can handle it better. I think Novak [Djokovic] could have handled his match better as well. Everyone loses. It's not like I lost to a bad player. He made fourth round, gave [Stan] Wawrinka a good run. It is what it is. I'm gonna move on, and this week it's about Davis Cup.
"I was obviously struggling after the Open. Mentally it was tough, but a lot of people [provided] a lot of support. Obviously, Rusty [Hewitt] has been helping me through it, and I think this week's crucial for me – bounce back, get back out there and try and enjoy it again. Yeah, I'm feeling good."
Was the Seppi debacle and the soul-searching news conference that followed, a "line-in-the-sand" moment? "Kind of," Kyrgios said. "I obviously wanted to do better ... there's a lot on expectation on myself, but for everyone here there's expectation...
"I'm young, I'm 21. It's not like I'm at the end of my career and I'm trying to chase grand slams. I'm still working through it, still trying to learn how to play, develop my game, so I think time's on my side."
Kyrgios was returning from the US at the weekend so had seen little of the marvellous men's final, but said he had wanted Roger Federer to win, rating the Swiss as "hands-down the greatest of all time". The Williams sisters, too, were inspirational, and Kyrgios said he can see what it will take to get there.
"I can learn a lot from the final, but I think there's potential there, but there's a lot of work to do. I've got to improve a lot of things in my game, I've got to work harder. I take the easy way out a lot of times, so I've got to get more disciplined, hopefully get a coach soon. I think people tend to forget I've beaten nearly every best player in the world, so that gets overlooked."