Daniil Medvedev may skip his Sydney International defence after a deep run in Brisbane ended with rivals predicting his rise into the world's top 10.
The Russian was stopped by an in-form Kei Nishikori in a three-set Brisbane International final on Sunday night.
That battle followed defeats of Andy Murray, Milos Raonic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in a perfect tune-up for the year's first grand slam later this month.
Admitting he doesn't enjoy the five-set slog, Medvedev will fly to Sydney on Monday and cautiously hit the practice courts before making a call on his schedule ahead of the Australian Open from January 14.
The 22-year-old began his breakout 2018 by beating Alex de Minaur in the Sydney International final and will return as world No.16 with maximum points to defence.
"I'm going to go there and practice tomorrow and see how it goes and decide from there," he told AAP.
"I will just see how I feel."
Nishikori, now ranked nine in the world, expects to see the Russian make waves in Melbourne.
"Today's match; it was good tennis and I'm sure Daniil is going to be top 10 soon," Nishikori said.
The string-bean Russian - no relation to former world No.4 Andrei Medvedev - will leave Brisbane content with his efforts.
"He played amazing," Medvedev said of Nishikori.
"I managed to come back in the second set, but he played amazing and deserved it.
"If I play like in the second set I have the chance to do it (beat the top players), but it's tough to keep this level against these guys mentally.
"He played like a top 10 player tonight and I gave him a fight."
