Nick Kyrgios is expected to be at the Australian Open "in some form" as major doubt lingers over the enigmatic entertainer's tennis comeback.
The 2022 Wimbledon finalist remains sidelined with knee and wrist issues and for a second successive year seems unlikely to take part at Melbourne Park in January.
"The update is day-by-day with him," Tennis Australia boss Craig Tiley said on Monday of Kyrgios's availability.
"He'll be best to assess that ... we're going to have Nick here in some form or another in January.
"Hopefully it is to play because he's a crowd-pleaser. We love watching Nick and love having him around."
Kyrgios was a commentator at November's ATP Finals in Italy, where he said "the stars would need to align" for him to play at the Open.
In an interview with English broadcaster Piers Morgan last week, the 28-year-old gave no indication he would be ready to return to the court anytime soon.
But Open organisers received a major boost last Friday when Rafael Nadal announced he will make his eagerly awaited comeback at the Brisbane International in January.
The legendary Spaniard will make his return at the Australian Open warm-up event before taking the court in Melbourne for what could be his farewell Down Under.
The 37-year-old hasn't played a competitive match since getting knocked out in the second round of this year's Open by American Mackenzie McDonald when struggling with an injured hip.
"It's fun talking to Rafa, that's why this job is great ... what a beautiful person," Tiley said.
"He was most concerned that he wasn't going to be ready to play; he didn't want to commit to playing and let his fans down by then having to pull out.
"He's healthy, he's practising well, he's playing like Rafa plays and going all out.
"It took a while to make the announcement simply because he wanted to make sure he was going to be able to come and play."
