Nick Kyrgios will make his long-awaited return to competitive tennis at the Brisbane International after playing just one ATP Tour match in more than two years.

The 29-year-old firefighter has been largely sidelined since the quarter-finals of the 2022 US Open due to career-threatening wrist and knee injuries. That run came six weeks after reaching the Wimbledon decider, when he came closest to an elusive major crown before losing to Novak Djokovic in four sets.

Kyrgios also announced his intention to play in the 2025 Australian Open and will headline the Brisbane International, which starts on December 29. Before that, Kyrgios will play in the World Tennis League exhibition event in Abu Dhabi, with the mixed team event also set to attract the likes of Iga Swiatek, Casper Ruud, Aryna Sabalenka, Taylor Fritz and Daniil Medvedev.

Kyrgios made a late withdrawal from the 2023 Australian Open due to a knee injury that required surgery, before being forced to withdraw from the French Open later that year with a foot problem.

Kyrgios, winner of seven titles on the ATP Tour, subsequently tore a ligament in his wrist that also required surgery during his final Tour match, a short-lived return to the grass in Stuttgart in June 2023.

The former world number 13, who is currently unranked, said he was excited to resume his career in front of home fans.

“Honestly, this is probably the best I’ve felt in two years,” Kyrgios told the Nine Network. “I played that great year in 2022. When I started to feel some problems in my wrist during the finals of Wimbledon and the US Open. I had that wrist reconstruction and now I feel great.

“It was a 15 percent chance that I would play at this level again and here we are. It would be sick to be in front of the home fans again.”