In his return to the court since losing in four sets to Andy Murray in the opening round of the US Open earlier this month, Kyrgios faces the 56th-ranked Giraldo on either Monday or Tuesday in Kuala Lumpur.

Kyrgios is ranked 42nd in the world and is the seventh seed for the Malaysian Open.

He is on track for a quarter-final with the tournament's No.3 seed, the big-serving Ivo Karlovic, with the winner likely to face Feliciano Lopez in the semi-finals.

Spanish top seed David Ferrer, ranked No.8 in the world, is on the other side of the draw.

It is the first of three tournaments Kyrgios will contest as he looks to end a tumultuous year off strongly and build momentum heading into the Australian Open.

After the Malaysian Open, the 22-year-old will contest the Japan Open in Tokyo from October 5-11 and the Shanghai Masters from October 11-18.

Kyrgios doesn't have any ranking points to defend at any of those three tournaments having missed the end of last season through injury.

It gives Kyrgios a great opportunity to rise into the top 32 players in the world rankings and grab a seeding at the Australian Open.

That would mean Kyrgios would avoid what happened at the US Open where he had to face Murray in the opening round.

Kyrgios lost his opening round match at last year's Malaysian Open with a bone stress injury to his left forearm, forcing him to complete a rehabilitation program in Melbourne.

After losing to Murray and partnering Genie Bouchard in the mixed doubles at the US Open, Kyrgios spent the past three weeks training in Canberra.

He flew to Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday last week to complete his commitments as an ambassador for Malaysia Airlines.

Kyrgios is a major attraction at the Malaysian Open and has been dubbed "The 1/2 Kampung Kid" having Malaysian heritage through his mother Nill.