Australia's Thanasi Kokkinakis suffered a flare-up of his shoulder injury but defied pain to notch a gallant victory in his first singles match in almost a year at Adelaide International.
Kokkinakis, who underwent radical surgery last February in a bid to fix a long-standing pectoral problem, downed American Sebastian Korda in the first round on Monday night, triumphing 3-6 6-3 7-6(3).
In his first singles outing since January 15 last year, the South Australian played through pain to courageously finish his comeback match,
But 29-year-old Kkkinakis said he was determined to return to action on Wednesday in Adelaide.
"We are so far away from the courts tomorrow. I am going to be put on ice, try and take the strongest painkillers, and see as many physios as I can," he said.
Last February, Kokkinakis had a donor Achilles tendon attached to his right pectoral muscle and shoulder.
The first tennis player to undergo such surgery, he made his competitive return in doubles with Kyrgios last week at the Brisbane International.
But the injury flared during his singles comeback after a raucous reception walking on to centre court in his home town.
Kokkinakis consistently sent down first serves around 195kmh in the opening set.
World No.51 Korda took the set before Kokkinakis raced to a 3-0 advantage in the second when his injury resurfaced.
Grimacing and feeling his shoulder, he called a medical timeout.
At 4-1, the 29-year-old again received massage treatment at the change of ends yet defied his pain to break Korda's serve in the next game.
Adopting daringly aggressive tactics in a bid to shorten rallies, Kokkinakis ultimately won the set 6-3 despite his service speed dropping about 20kmh and consulting with his team about whether to continue.
Korda appeared prepared for Kokkinakis to retire when the Australian left the court - but he returned for the third set, when almost every rally ended with the Australian clutching his shoulder.
The set went to a tiebreak, in which Kokkinakis somehow produced one 196kmh serve as he closed out a remarkable victory.
Earlier, Daria Kaasatkina claimed her first win in the nation as an Australian representative, prevailing against Greek wildcard Maria Sakkari 7-6(2) on centre court.
World No.48 Kasatkina took 70 minutes to claim the opening set, and another 45 minutes to win the second against Sakkari, who was ranked world No.3 in March 2022 and is currently 52nd.
After an opening-round loss to Anastasia Potapova at the Brisbane International, Kasatkina scored her first win in her adopted homeland, breaking Sakkari to love in the final game and sealing victory with a backhand return winner down the line.
“Honestly, I was waiting for this moment all summer,” said the former world No.8, who recovered from 4-1 down in the first set against Sakkari.
“And I was super nervous. I was like coming from Brisbane, losing a tough match there, and then seeing the draw here … it’s such a strong tournament.
“Honestly, I’m over the moon right now. It feel so special. And you guys making it special… honestly it’s a super special day for me, and I really wanted to finally experience this feeling of winning a match in front of the home crowd ... it feels pretty addictive.
“All of the previous years I was very very jealous of the Australian players because they’ve got this privilege, to play in front of their home crowd, to have a home Slam. But I was never expecting to be one of them.”
Kasatkina’s win sets up a second-round meeting with Romanian Jaqueline Cristian, the qualifier who upset No.4 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova.
Don’t miss out on the chance to be part of one of the most exciting tournaments of the year. Tickets for the Adelaide International are on sale via Ticketmaster.