Kyrgios is the highest-ranked Australian on the ATP charts at No.30 and should be first in line for a singles berth in Tokyo should he remain at the top.

The 24-year-old has been commanding headlines for the past week after a controversial start to his US Open campaign.

Kyrgios accused the ATP of being corrupt, before backtracking and saying he meant there were double standards after he was fined $168,000.

He will play against Russia's Andrey Rublev on Sunday morning for a spot as he aims to advance to the fourth round for the first time at the New York grand slam.

But he is also eyeing a chance to play at the 2020 Olympics after a public stoush with former Australian team chef de mission Kitty Chiller led to him withdrawing from the Rio Games.

Chiller was critical of Kyrgios' behaviour and the Canberra star viewed his treatment as "unfair and unjust".

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Almost four years later bridges are starting to be rebuilt and Coates, who was in Canberra for an Olympic and rugby World Cup function, said Kyrgios was on the AOC radar.

"I've got an open mind about him participating," Coates said.

"He absolutely possess great ability. I'm sure if he wanted to be in the Olympics and wanted to respect the values of our Olympic team then he'd be a very positive force for it.

"We have a totally open mind. It's really up to him and it's with his own national federation.

"Kyrgios will be an issue firstly for tennis because they have to nominate him. The difficulty for tennis is they really only control their athletes for the Davis Cup and Olympic Games."

Kyrgios' duel with Russian dynamo Rublev has been scheduled as the second night match - prime time under lights at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Open organisers also scrambled to move the controversial drawcard from Court 5 to Ashe - the sport's biggest stadium - for his first-round doubles match, which he won with Romania's Marius Copil, on Friday.

For all his sins, ATP chiefs have already decided not to boot the combustible star out of the Open. Little wonder he said he wasn't worried, or expecting any calls from above any time soon.

But Kyrgios knows Rublev is certainly capable of sending him packing from New York.

The 21-year-old added Roger Federer to his growing list of prized 2019 scalps this month, which also includes fellow grand slam champions Stan Wawrinka and Marin Cilic.

Rublev also reached the quarter-finals last year at Flushing Meadows before pushing Kyrgios to the limit in a three-set thriller in his home tournament in Moscow.

Kyrgios is rightfully wary as he eyes a first-time foray to the second week in New York.

"Yeah, he's a very good player," Kyrgios said ahead of their second career meeting.

"He's a young, fearless player who has been playing really well the last couple weeks. Obviously he had that win over Roger.

"He plays big from both sides. He's a great player. He's going to have a great future.

"I mean, I played him once in Moscow. It was an incredibly tough match. So it's going to be tough, for sure."

Should he pass his biggest test of the tournament so far, Kyrgios could face boom Australian youngster Alexei Popyrin for a berth in the quarter-finals.

Popyrin, 20, takes on Italy's 24th seed Matteo Berrettini looking to reach the last 16 at a slam for the first time.

"I know a little bit about him. He's got a big serve, big forehand - kind of similar to my game actually. That'll be interesting," the 20-year-old said.

Kyrgios and Popyrin are hoping to give Australia three men in the last 16 at Flushing Meadows for the first time in 31 years, when Darren Cahill, John Frawley and Mark Woodforde all made it that far.

De Minaur's 6-2 6-4 2-6 6-3 victory over seventh-seeded former Open runner-up Kei Nishikori thrust the 20-year-old into the last 16 of a slam for the first time.

The last time Australia has even two men in the fourth round of the US Open was 2001 when Lleyton Hewitt won the title and two-time champion Pat Rafter also reach the final 16.