In what has been described as probably his "toughest challenge to date", Thanasi Kokkinakis shared behind-the-scenes footage after undergoing surgery.
The 28-year-old struggled throughout the Australian summer with a pectoral issue, which forced him to retire from his Adelaide International quarter-final and hampered his Australian Open campaign.
"[My] shoulder was gone before the match," Kokkinakis told reporters after his second-round exit against Jack Draper at Melbourne Park. "I just tried to tough it out. I was touch-and-go again to play this week. Took a million painkillers to try and get through.
"I knew after I had some serious decisions to make, and I'm going to miss some time. I just tried to kind of empty the tank today and for this week and see what I can do. I put myself in a winning position. I didn't have enough to get over, so that's annoying.
"I know I'm going to be out for a while...I'm pretty flat."
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He posted a video on Instagram of arriving at the hospital and being comforted by family.
"Been struggling for a little while with this... Probably my toughest challenge to date. I've been trying to find the answers to an ongoing Pec injury that I haven't been able to fix. Let's see how this goes. Thank you for all your ongoing support," Kokkinakis wrote.
Kokkinakis travelled to Sweden for Australia's Davis Cup qualifier at the end of January, but didn't feature in any matches.
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