Rising Australian star Nick Kyrgios tries hard to stand out, even if his game alone makes him a standout

MONTREAL – Nick Kyrgios of Australia, barely out of his teens, is on the practice court at the Rogers Cup with his pal Jack Sock, the American who partners with Canadian Vasek Pospisil in doubles.

They are having a blast, and also getting some tennis in. But they aren't making it look like work; they're trying trick shots, they're interacting with the crowd. And everyone is having a great time.

Here are some moments (you can even see young Montreal tennis phenom Félix Auger-Aliassime watching on with amazement).

Fun – at a tennis tournament, where a stray child wandering 52 rows up in the grandstand will bring play to a complete halt until the poor parents handle their unruly, tennis rules-ignorant offspring.

Kyrgios and Sock seem to have hit it off big-time. They're close in age with Kyrgios 20 and Sock, 22. They have a similar sort of joie de vivre, an insouciant lack of concern about how they should be acting within the tennis context. but while Sock is the epitome of the All-American dude type, Kyrgios is everything but a symbol of your typical Aussie mate.

He's part Greek, part Malaysian and pure Aussie; that unusual combination alone makes him a standout. He has arrived for the North American summer hard-court season with a new look - a Mohawk-style haircuit with some coloured, well, accents on each side.

It's edgy. The kid himself is a little edgy, as some of the antics in this early part of his career have shown – notably this year at Wimbledon, and other places.

The kid makes waves, as most polarizing figures do. He's definitely immature, and he definitely needs to stop trying so hard to be the rebel and smooth out some of those rougher edges. And he definitely needs to not run his mouth as much as he does.

In other words, like most 20-year-olds, he needs to grow up. So far, no animals have been harmed in the making of the Kyrgios life story. So far.

(Update: Kyrgios was a pretty bad boy during his match against Wawrinka, dropping some F-bombs and getting into Wawrinka's personal life with a shot after Wawrinka got irritated with him for serving too quickly.)

If he continues rising in the rankings, he will attract new and most welcome fans to the game as he develops. Kids – especially kids, the ones who grow up to become tournament ticket buyers and equipment and clothing consumers.

Kyrgios hadn't played since Davis Cup, right after Wimbledon. And he arrived in Montreal sans his luggage, which forced him into a rather unique kit during a first practice with countryman Bernard Tomic that included his Jordans, and a demo racquet borrowed from Lleyton Hewitt that Hewitt had strung for him as he and his manager were on their way in from the Montreal airport.

And then, properly outfitted a couple of days later, he went out and won a tricky first-round match against veteran Spanish lefty Fernando Verdasco.

The reward is a date with world No. 5 and French Open champion Stan Wawrinka late night tonight.

Kyrgios's pal Sock pulled off an impressive win earlier Wednesday, upsetting No. 14 seed Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria 5-7, 7-6 (5), 7-5 out on Court 9, the court with the free stands that was so jammed on Monday with the all-star doubles lineup, and was full for this match between two young guns before another couple of doubles matches starring Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.

We'll see how the Montreal crowd reacts to Kyrgios, a player they don't really know yet. The contrast of his fire against the rather dour Wawrinka will be an interesting one. And if there's any international language in tennis, it's the language of flash.