Fan favourite Nick Kyrgios will play his first grand slam tournament since 2022 at the Australian Open in January.

Organisers announced last week that Kyrgios, who has been plagued by injuries throughout his career, will use a protected ranking of No.21 to gain entry to the main draw.

The one-time Wimbledon singles finalist is one of 11 Australians confirmed as main-draw starters, including Thanasi Kokkinakis.

Canberra-born Kyrgios, who reached a career-high world ranking of 13 in 2016, made it to the quarter-finals in Melbourne in 2015.

The polarising, shot-making wizard reached the Wimbledon singles quarter-finals in 2014 before making the tournament’s final in 2022, losing to Serbian superstar Novak Djokovic in four sets.

Kyrgios also made the quarter-finals at the US Open in 2022 – his last major before injuries caused an extended absence from the court.

The supremely talented Kyrgios would dearly love to add the singles crown in Melbourne to the men’s doubles title he won with Kokkinakis in 2022.

Intrigued as anyone about how Kyrgios’s comeback goes, tennis great Pat Rafter says he won’t be surprised if the enigmatic former Wimbledon finalist makes the Australian Open semi-finals.

Nor will Rafter be shocked if Kyrgios flops and crashes out in the first round in his much-anticipated major return at Melbourne Park month.

Australia’s former Davis Cup captain believes it’s impossible to predict how his ex-charge will fare on his competitive return after more than two years off tour with career-threatening wrist and knee injuries.

Kyrgios will make his comeback at the Brisbane International from December before returning to the grand slam stage at the Open starting on January 12.

The 29-year-old needed the injury-protected ranking to secure a direct entry to the Open but Rafter – who handed a teenaged Kyrgios his Davis Cup debut in 2013 – says it would be foolish to dismiss the mercurial talent’s prospects of a deep run.

“You’d never write anyone off with the talent that Nick has. It’s pretty amazing,” Rafter said.

“I really don’t know what he’s done, though. A year and a half off the game … so it’s going to be interesting.

“I have no expectations or no understanding about how he is going to go.”

Kyrgios has played only one tour singles event since reaching the 2022 US Open quarter-finals, seven weeks after losing to Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon decider.

Rafter, though, believes the now-unranked former world No.17 could still be a factor at the Open, where his best result was the quarter-finals way back in 2015.

“He’s got a massive game,” Rafter said.

“But then can he keep it together? Can his body hold up? Can his mind hold together?

“They’re probably his really big hurdles, especially his body.

“If you don’t play competitively, God, it’s a completely different thing than to training.”

“So I really don’t know what to expect from him. I think it’s all up in the air.

“If you go there to see him play, it will be interesting to see.

“I don’t know quite what the expectation is from the pundits but my expectation is there is none.

“When I say there is no expectation, if he gets to the quarters, the semis, it wouldn’t surprise me.

“If he loses the first round, it wouldn’t surprise me. I don’t know.”

With AAP