Teenage tennis sensation Nick Kyrgios is in a race against the clock to be fit for Australia's first Davis Cup tie of the year as he battles to overcome a back injury in the coming weeks.
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Kyrgios will return to Canberra on Thursday after his brave Australian Open campaign came to a halt when he was beaten by Andy Murray in the quarter finals.
He will have an MRI scan on his back on Friday to determine the extent of the injury which has troubled him for the past month.
It could torpedo his hopes of being a part of Australia's Davis Cup tie against the Czech Republic from March 6-8, but he is still scheduled to play in tournaments in Marseilles and Dubai in the coming weeks.
The results of the scans will determine Kyrgios' immediate playing future, with coach Todd Larkham detailing a plan to see the teenager rise into the world's top 20 by the end of the year.
"Nick wasn't 100 per cent fit for the Australian Open, he had a lack of rotation in hitting his backhand," Larkham said.
"He was in quite a bit of pain during and after matches. He played injured but still managed to make the quarters. There's no doubt at 100 per cent fit he could have played better.
"It was definitely worth playing, it was definitely worth going through the pain. It's setting up from a rankings point of view for the year to make a real push to make it to the top 20.
"The goal is to get back fit, but we don't know until we see the MRI and how things progress with the treatment."
Kyrgios won't train for the next week to give his body a chance to rest, before using the new multimillion-dollar Canberra Tennis Centre as his training base for the international season.
Kyrgios' star continues to rise as he makes waves in the tennis world, becoming the first Australian to make the quarter finals at the Australian Open since Lleyton Hewitt in 2005 and the first teenager to make two grand slam quarter finals since Roger Federer in 2001.
He is guaranteed a career-high ranking of No.35 at the end of the Australian Open and pocketed $450,000 for his efforts, which included a five-set thriller against Andreas Seppi.
Just 12 months ago Kyrgios was ranked outside the world's top 180.
Larkham is also set to be Kyrgios' coach for at least the rest of this year, with a plan to play at least 20 tournaments and have Kyrgios entrenched in the top 20 by the end of the season.
Larkham will travel with Kyrgios to all of his tournaments and spend up to 25 weeks on the road with the 19-year-old.
Kyrgios played at just 13 tournaments last year and his coaching team will monitor his physical condition to ensure he doesn't suffer a serious injury.
"We wanted to play the Australian summer because the doctor said the back injury couldn't get any worse, but you don't want to do that again," Larkham said.
"We've done all the schedule for this year and planned it all out. He only played 28 matches or something like that last year.
"To accumulate enough points to break into the top 20 I think he needs to play about 20 events so that's what we're aiming for."
Larkham concedes Kyrgios was given a tennis lesson from Murray in the straight-sets quarter final loss.
"I think Murray exposed some of Nick's weaknesses and nullified his strengths.
"I thought there was a bit of a class difference. Nick is playing top 20 in the world tennis, Murray is top four consistently.
"There's not a massive difference, but there are things to work on. Nick can play top-four ability, but he can't sustain it just yet. He's certainly got the game to beat anyone."
Kyrgios leads a charge of Australian men rising up the rankings and former top-10 star Mark Philippoussis was excited about the strength of Australian tennis.
"Kyrgios is definitely spearheading Aussie tennis right now, but you've got Thanasi Kokkinakis, Bernard Tomic, who has been playing great, Sam Groth is having a great summer," Philippoussis said. "So we have a lot to be excited about."
