Tsitsipas was forced to retire from the second round of the Paris Masters and lost his opening match against Andrey Rublev at the ATP Finals in November before withdrawing from the season-ending tournament due to the injury.

The 23-year-old Greek, who had posted pictures of himself on a hospital bed during the off-season, sported an ice pack on his right arm in Sydney before his match against Polish world No 9 Hurkacz.

He was replaced by Aristotelis Thanos.

But Tsitsipas played down concerns that the issue would derail his campaign at the Australian Open, which begins on Jan 17.

“The recovery from my elbow surgery in November is on track for Melbourne and today was a precautionary step to make sure I make (it to) Melbourne,” Tsitsipas said.

“We will see day by day, match by match until then.”