The Adelaide-born 29-year-old conceded in a post-game interview on Monday that he was seriously considering withdrawing from that first round victory, his first singles match since losing to Great Britain's Jack Draper in the second round of the 2025 Australian Open.
He has taken the cautious option of withdrawing from the remainder of his home city tournament as he prepares for a men's doubles campaign with Nick Kyrgios, with the pair being granted a wildcard by organisers.
"Very sad to have to pull out of my favourite event," Kokkinakis posted in an Instagram story.
"Unfortunately my arm isn't quite ready yet after missing a year off.
"The support is incredible and always love playing here. See you next year."
Kokkinakis pulled out a few hours ahead of his Wednesday evening clash with Vacherot and admitted on social media that he likely would have not have participated in the Adelaide International at all had it not been his home town tournament, the one in which he secured his only ATP Tour title (January 2022).
“I probably wouldn’t have played to start to with," he said on Monday night.
“I had conversations with my team: I was like: ‘At what cost am I playing? Even if I get through this match, so what?
“I had the surgery so I could back-up matches and go through a tournament. But I’ll never really find out until I go through a long match and see where I’m at after.”
The men's doubles bracket gets underway on Tuesday 20 January, leaving Kokkinakis with less than one week to regain full fitness.