Nick Kyrgios will start his Australian Open comeback campaign at Brisbane International spurred on by Novak Djokovic

Nick Kyrgios has played one competitive tour match in two years but has confirmed the location for his Australian comeback en route to the Australian Open.

Nick Kyrgios says he’s feeling the best he has “in two years” with confirmation he’ll go back to the tournament he won in 2018 in Brisbane to kickstart his return to competitive tennis.

The former Wimbledon finalist will be the headline act at the Brisbane International in December, returning to the court after playing only one tour match in more than two years.

Australia’s second-highest ranked male player, Alexei Popyrin as world No.26 Jordan Thompson will join Kyrgios in the field along with three-time Grand Slam quarterfinalist Ajla Tomljanovic.

Kyrgios, 29, has been sidelined with several injuries, including a career-threatening wrist issue and a knee complaint since the 2022 US Open quarter-finals, a setback that came just six weeks after reaching the Wimbledon decider when he lost in four sets to Novak Djokovic.

It was a conversation with Djokovic, however, which inspired Kyrgios to return having had doubts during his layoff.

“It was a wrist reconstruction, so there was four holes drilled in my hand, and there’s a piece of string kind of holding my wrist together and my fingers looked like sausages when I got out of the surgery,“ said Kyrgios, who won the Brisbane International in 2018.

“I was in a cast for about 12 weeks, no movement, and I basically just had to relearn how to use my right wrist again, even just carrying grocery bags, anything was super painful.

Welcome BACK, @NickKyrgios 🍿 🍿 🍿#BrisbaneTennispic.twitter.com/RpUEmzfsIG

— Brisbane International (@BrisbaneTennis) November 15, 2024

“But then I started getting some real improvement at the nine-month mark ... to a point where I feel like I’m playing how I was in 2022.”

“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.

“That was a big drive for me ... so, 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.”

Kyrgios, who had signalled his desire to play in the Australian Open, will also play in the World Tennis League exhibition event in Abu Dhabi before heading to Brisbane, feeling confident in his body.

“I’ll have to be reasonable with myself as there was a fair chance of me not even returning to this level and playing confidently so I think I’ve already exceeded a lot of expectation,” he said.

“But I’m my hardest critic and I want to win matches, I don’t want to make up the numbers.

“The way I’m hitting it now, I’ve never hit it as good as I’m hitting it now so I’m just going to take it day by day.

“I generally think that my level is still high enough to be able to compete for these kind of tournaments and grand slams so I’m excited to be back.”

Nick Kyrgios won the 2018 Brisbane International. Picture: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

Kyrgios, who was ranked as high as 13 in the world, is unranked and could need a wildcard to get into the Australian Open, which he last played in 2022.

He’ll join Australian Open champ Aryna Sabalenka in the field at the Brisbane International.

Originally published as Nick Kyrgios will start his Australian Open comeback campaign at Brisbane International spurred on by Novak Djokovic