Nick Kyrgios’ injury that kept him out of Thursday’s A Night with Novak exhibition and put him in doubt for the Australian Open is “nearing 100 per cent”.

Having not played a competitive match in 18 months with a wrist injury, the 29-year-old picked up a fresh low-level abdominal strain in his three-set loss to Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard at the Brisbane International last week.

“I would probably say I’m nearing probably 100 per cent to play,” he said per The Sydney Morning Herald.

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“I can take a lot of painkillers and I can try to tough it out, even though it’s probably not the smartest thing to do.

“Look, as I’ve said, this could be my last Australian Open. It’s not like I’m announcing my retirement, but I don’t know how many times I’m going to be able to come back here and be a part of this amazing event. It’s one of the best events we have as tennis players.

“So, I’m not going to take it for granted, I’ll do everything I absolutely can to get out there. You know, I was at the top of the game, and top of my game, when I got injured, so I definitely miss going out there and winning, for sure.”

Kyrgios revealed he isn’t serving during practice sessions to give his body the best chance to recover.

“Look it’s a day by day kind of process with where I’m at physically,” Kyrgios said.

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“I feel super excited, obviously [the] draw just came out, I have that anxiety, the nerves, I think that’s what I missed. If I didn’t feel any of that, I probably would have stopped playing. Had a good hit today, still got three days before the tournament kicks off.

“My body feels good. Good enough to stay in the draw and hopefully compete. But look, I’m doing everything I can … I didn’t serve today … I just do whatever the physio says, whatever the doctors kind of tell me to do, just to give it time to heal, and do whatever I can to get out there.”

Kyrgios will play Brit Jacob Fearnley in the first round, which begins on Sunday.