Former world number one Novak Djokovic hinted he could still pull out of the Australian Open as he battles to be fully fit for the year's opening grand slam.
A six-time Australian Open champion, Djokovic wore a compression sleeve on his troublesome right elbow in his long-awaited return to the tennis court on Wednesday.
Welcome sight for Australian Open
Djokovic – who was forced to skip the Mubadala World Tennis Championship and the Qatar Open, having not played competitively since withdrawing from the quarter-finals of Wimbledon in July – blitzed Dominic Thiem 6-1, 6-4 in his comeback at the Kooyong Classic before losing to retired Australian Lleyton Hewitt in the Tie Break Tens exhibition event later on Wednesday.
READ: Djokovic channels Kyrgios as he blitzes Thiem at Kooyong
It was a welcome sight for Australian Open organisers and fans following the withdrawals of five-time runner-up Andy Murray and Kei Nishikori as well as 23-time slam winner Serena Williams on the women's side, but Djokovic insisted he is still not 100 per cent fit with the tournament set to get underway on Monday.
READ: Djokovic can return to the top without me, says Agassi
'Doing everything I possibly can'
"I'll be over the moon if I can play, which I'm planning to. For now everything at the moment is going in the right direction," the Serbian star said on Thursday. "I'm taking it on a day-by-day basis and doing everything I possibly can.
"Doctors here and back home are working with me. If I got to play the way I did yesterday against the number five in the world ... I'm happy with that."
READ: Djokovic says injury absence a 'necessary experience'
Djokovic continued: "I'm still not 100 per cent. I'm moving towards 100 per cent. Hopefully in three or four days I will be there," he said on Thursday.
"I played better than I thought might happen [on Wednesday] and most importantly I played without pain.
"It was a great test for me to see where I am, to see how I feel, to hear the score being called and feel the pressure of break points."
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