With all the attention focused on 15-year-old tennis phenom Félix Auger-Aliassime, some growing pains

Félix Auger-Aliassime is not the tempestuous type on court, not one to usually throw his racquet in anger when things aren't going his way.

But that's what he did in the third round of the Australian Open, when the 15-year-old – yes, still only 15 – was going down in straight sets to a tall lefty from Estonia named Kenneth Raisma.

Auger-Aliassime, who had made his junior Grand Slam debut just a few months before at the US Open, was the No. 4 seed. Raisma, who turns 18 next month, was seeded No. 15, so the 6-3, 6-1 shellacking he inflicted on one of the most promising young players in the world was equal parts shocking and concerning.

For Auger-Aliassime, it was almost a relief.

Here's what he said after the match.

The presence of the agents was conspicuous during Auger-Aliassime's matches in Australia, including his first-round doubles loss in the company of fellow national training centre member Jack Lin.

They were led by the patriarch, Tony Godsick, best known as the longtime agent of Roger Federer (and these days, also of Juan Martin del Potro and Grigor Dimitrov).

But Godsick wasn't alone; here are just some of the interested spectators Down Under (and those are just the ones we recognized; no doubt there were others). Also an interested onlooker was Serena Williams' coach Patrick Mouratoglou, who has a big academy in France.

Auger-Aliassime said he just never felt right during his first trip to Australia; it wasn't so much the conditions, or the travel, or the fact that the courts at Melbourne Park were faster than he expected.

He just didn't feel ... right. Never, not once. And when he ran into a higher-quality player in Raisma, he wasn't able to struggle through despite not playing his best tennis.

The teenager said he hoped that going home, out of the spotlight again, and getting back to training was going to get things back on track.

But when we saw him at the national centre last week, as he practiced with Davis Cup players Frank Dancevic and Adil Shamasdin on the Har-Tru courts there, he said he was still sort of feeling as though he was in a bit of a lull.

It's probably a combination of the physical and the mental. Auger-Aliassime is still growing; even since Australia, he looked taller, and leaner. He said he'd been measured the previous day, and now officially stands at 6-foot 1 1/2.

He's also sporting a snappy new 'do.

Auger-Aliassime said he was looking forward to getting back to competition for the first time since then, as he competes in some pro events over the next few weeks.

This week, it's a $25,000 ITF Futures event in Gatineau, Quebec. Next week, a similar tournament in Sherbrooke, Quebec. And the week after that, it will be a $50,000 ATP Tour Challenger in Drummondville, just an hour's drive from Montreal.

 (Update: he lost 7-6 (4), 6-3 to 18-year-old Tim Van Rijthoven of the Netherlands in his first-round match Wednesday; he's still alive in doubles).

That was where it all began a year ago, when Auger-Aliassime, just 14, won three rounds of qualifying – the last two against experienced, much older players – to main the main draw of a Challenger tournament in his professional-event debut.

He didn't end up even playing in the main draw, forced to pull out of both singles and doubles with an abdominal strain.

Auger-Aliassime was the first player born in the 2000s to earn an ATP Tour ranking. He was the youngest player to ever win a match at the Challenger level (which he did in Granby last July, reaching the quarter-finals).

As he undertakes this Quebec tour (he and fellow junior Denis Shapovalov won their first-round doubles match in Gatineau Tuesday evening), the local media will shine the spotlight on him once again.

With the Montreal Canadiens a fine mess, no doubt everyone will be looking for a happy, hopeful story for a change.

Auger-Aliassime was the first player born in the 2000s to earn an ATP Tour ranking. He was the youngest player to ever win a match at the Challenger level (which he did in Granby last July, reaching the quarter-finals) ... First this. Youngest that. Questions about why he hasn't already turned pro and gone on the circuit. Why he isn't down in Guadeloupe getting a taste of Davis Cup experience. Why he didn't win the junior Australian Open.

When he arrives in Drummondville this time, everyone will know about him and everyone will see him coming. It will be a good test.

Many can't-miss phenoms have risen and fallen before him; the kindest thing everyone could do for him is temper expectations and resist the urge to predict future stardom and tally up the number of Grand Slams he might win.