Nick Kyrgios has been included in the men’s singles entry list for next month’s Australian Open after the tournament unveiled its main-draw entry lists on Friday.

The Aussie firebrand will make his return to the grand slam arena having only managed one match in the last two years because of repeat injuries.

After kicking off his 2025 campaign in Brisbane, Kyrgios will return to the AO with a protected ranking of 21.

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A protected ranking is often allocated to a player coming back from a long-term injury and is based on the player’s average ranking in the first three months of their injury.

Kyrgios is among six men and six women who will compete at Melbourne Park using a protected ranking.

Because of this, the main-draw entry ranking cut-off for both fields has been set at world No.98.

Former world No.4, Kei Nishikori has entered with a protected ranking of 48. This marks the 34-year-old’s first appearance at the AO since 2021.

On the women’s side, Tokyo 2020 gold medallist Belinda Bencic will also make her comeback, following the birth of her daughter in April with a protected ranking of 15.

The men’s and women’s fields are the strongest possible with every top-50 player on the ATP and WTA tours signed on to play in the slam.

Ten Australian men featured on the men’s entry list including Kyrgios, Alexei Popyrin and Jordan Thompson.

Alex de Minaurthe top-ranked Aussie at No.9.

While Australia’s Olivia Gadecki was listed in the women’s main draw.

Defending men’s champion Jannik Sinner is the top-ranked male player, however, the Italian will have to contend with 10-time winner Novak Djokovic as he targets a record-extending 25th major title Down Under.

Back-to-back women’s champion Aryna Sabalenka headlines the women’s field alongside Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff.

Including special rankings, the first 104 players directly accepted into both the men’s and women’s singles draws have been revealed.

A further eight places per draw are reserved for wildcard entries which will be awarded ahead of the AO.

The first two wildcards have already been allocated with Zhang Shuai and Kasidit Samrej earning their spots after winning last month’s AO Asia-Pacific Wildcard Play-off.

To complete the final 128-player fields, the remaining 16 spots per draw will be made up of qualifiers from the final round of AO qualifying.

Main-draw action at the Australian Open will get underway on Sunday, January 12.