Aussie tennis firebrand Nick Kyrgios concedes he may not even make it to the Australian Open, and if he does he will “need a miracle” to go deep in the tournament.

The polarising 29-year-old was bundled out of the Brisbane International in a first-round defeat to French giant Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard on Tuesday.

Kyrgios has plenty of power but he struggled to return the serve of his 203-centimetre opponent, who triumphed after all three sets went to tiebreaks.

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And it could not have been a bigger test of Kyrgios’ right wrist, on which he had surgery in 2023 which kept him sidelined for the best part of 18 months.

The 2022 Wimbledon finalist says he has been working with his physio for up to four hours a day in preparation for his comeback summer.

And while he still plans to take the court in Melbourne in less than a fortnight’s time, there is a chance he may not be able to.

“I was really excited for the Aus Open, but after today… obviously I’m [still] super excited. If I’m able to play, I’m able to play. But the reality kind of set in to me,” Kyrgios said after his loss on Tuesday.

“(Brisbane International is) a best-of-three [sets] match with my wrist. Not only is a grand slam mentally really draining, like you’re there for two-and-a-half, three weeks [but] it’s, like, physically a grind.

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“It’s one of the hardest things to do in any sport, is win a grand slam in men’s tennis.

“I think I almost need a miracle, and I need the stars to align for my wrist to hold up in a grand slam, for sure.

“Today, if this was a grand slam, we may still be out on court, and I don’t know how I’d pull up the next day or the day after.”

Kyrgios hit his career peak at the famed All England Club two and a half years ago, and many have long believed the Aussie has the talent to win a grand slam if the stars did align.

But at 29 years old and with his body starting to fail him, time certainly appears to be running out.

“It’s laughable, in the sense of how much my wrist needs now just to go out there and play a first round,” Kyrgios said.

“I’ll just see how my wrist pulls up from the load of this week… First of all, that’s the priority.

“If it feels good, we start building back up on the tennis courts, start going back to work, [then] we head to Melbourne… I don’t have any plan after the Australian Open tennis-wise, to be honest.

“I’m really confident I could play the Australian Open. It’s just depending on how my body is, how much tennis I can play.

“I guess that’s what I will do. Go home (to Canberra) for a couple of days and get ready for the Open.”

Kyrgios will play his second-round Brisbane doubles match alongside Novak Djokovic on Wednesday.