Thanasi Kokkinakis is waiting to hear about an Australian Open wildcard but is prepared to play qualifying if required as he looks to climb back up the world rankings.
The 22-year-old dropped from world No. 69 to 152 after suffering serious shoulder and pectoral injuries over the past two years as well as a cracked knee-cap in April.
That came just after Kokkinakis upset then world No.1 Roger Federer in the second round of the Miami Open in the biggest win of his career.
Despite that setback he said 2018 was his most promising since 2015.
"This year was a big step forward," Kokkinakis said.
"I was able to play a lot more matches and had the biggest win of my career.
"My tennis has definitely improved since I was at my career high a few years ago - I just need to stay healthy and stay on the court."
Tennis Australia has three discretionary wildcards for the main draw, as well as one on offer this week for the winner of the Australian Open wildcard playoff at Melbourne Park.
Kokkinakis decided against the play-off, with the feeling he wasn't quite ready for five-set tennis.
"I haven't heard anything yet and that's their decision," the South Australian said.
"I'm just trying to do what's best for me - I'm starting off at the Brisbane International so I know I've got some guaranteed matches there and I will go from there.
"I will be in quallies if that's what it needs to be."
After the run of injuries, Kokkinakis says his focus for 2019 is spending more time on court with the belief that will lead to a rankings rise.
"My hope is to feel good consistently and backing up week after week," he said.
"You can't make many ranking gains unless you win a random grand slam if you're not playing every week.
"Top 100 is my immediate goal so I can get directly in the grand slams and then top 50 but it's small steps at the moment."
Kokkinakis said the win over Federer gave him a shot of confidence that he could match it with the best as long as he was injury-free.
"I feel like I've had spurts like that in the past where I've shown when I'm healthy and had a few matches under my belt what I can do so it's about recreating that," he said.
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