'Showman' Nick Kyrgios the latest polarizing bad boy of Australian sport

For years, Australian sports fans have struggled with this anomaly. Yes, they like their sports stars to win, but they don't like them winning without displaying a certain amount of grace and sportsmanship.

Australia's cricket team has never fully been embraced by all pockets of the nation due to its combative on-field nature which often involves choice words and hours of sledging.

Australian basketballer Matthew Dellavedova was labeled, perhaps unfairly, "dirty" by U.S. media during the NBA finals series, while swimmer Leisel Jones was called a "spoilt brat" by Australian legend Dawn Fraser. James Magnussen and Nick D'arcy have also been the subject of scrutiny for their attitudes throughout their careers.

Even Australian football's cross-code competition with Ireland' s Gaelic football was thrown into doubt a few years ago over an ugly series of events in which Australia's players seemingly targeted and beat up the Irish players.

It's a side to sport that Australia seems to cultivate - an poor attitude which will not win any fans outside of the die-hard Australian supporters.

Kyrgios, 20, has time to turn around the sometimes-appalling on- court attitude. Much like Lleyton Hewitt, he can earn the respect of his peers and the public.

Kyrgios is scheduled to play his third-round match at Wimbledon on Friday evening. Interestingly, the man across the court will be 7th seed Canadian Milos Raonic, a man who also dealt with tennis success from a young age.

However unlike Kyrgios, Tomic, Hewitt and other Australian sporting stars, the Canadian has managed to stay focused on his game and remain a well-behaved role model at the same time.