Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley has claimed Nick Kyrgios will play in next year’s Melbourne major.

A first round loss in Stuttgart in June 2023 was Kyrgios’ only competitive outing in the past two years as he battles knee and wrist injuries.

But speaking on Nine’s Today on Thursday morning, Tiley declared Kyrgios will play at Melbourne Park in January.

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“The one we’re keeping an eye on will be Nick Kyrgios – Nick will be back,” he confidently said.

But Tiley backtracked somewhat when pushed to clarify the comments.

“Well, like every other player, we’d love to have Nick back,” he said.

“We know he’s out there practicing and preparing for the summer. He loves playing in Australia.

“We expect him to be back and we know he’s on track with that preparation, but a lot can play out in the next couple of months.

“But we look forward to seeing Nick back.”

Kyrgios has spent much of this year working in various media duties, most notably as a commentator and analyst for ESPN during grand slams.

Australian men’s tennis is in the midst of a boom, sharing with France the highest representation of players inside the ATP top-100 with 10 players. Italy and the USA have nine each.

There are four more Aussies inside the top-200, who could all find themselves on the main draw come the start of the tournament in January.

Things are a bit tougher on the women’s side, with only Olivia Gadecki and Ajla Tomljanovic inside the top-100, although there are 10 others – including Arina Rodionova, Maya Joint and Daria Saville – inside the top-200.

“Alex de Minaur has had an unbelievable year, got himself into the top-10 and then we’ve got quite a few players in the top-100 and a lot more than we’ve had in the last 30 years,” Tiley said.

“We are absolutely excited about the line up both on the men’s and the women’s side for what’s going to be an unbelievable three weeks of summer.”

Main draw Australian Open action will begin on January 12.