Being a boofhead is all right - if you're winning

Kyrgios went down to Richard Gasquet in an entertaining fourth-round clash, in which the younger player swore (heaven forfend), took too long to change his socks, and for a good minute or so appeared not to try at all.

The highly-talented 20-year-old is treading a well-worn path of showing early promise but failing to live up to our almost unachievable demands of having an impeccable temperament on the big stage.

More importantly, though, Australia has decided that Kyrgios is not yet successful enough to be that much of a boofhead.

Because history clearly shows that we will accept - and even applaud - what Kyrgios did, so long as his results are enough to cover the deeds.

In other words, be as much of a boofhead as you like, just make sure you're good at what you do.

Lleyton Hewitt went through a similar phase as a youngster - before he started winning tournaments - after which his "c'mon" shouts suddenly became endearing.

And consider cricket captain Michael Clarke.

The public clearly decided that his apparently lavish lifestyle was unacceptable, just as the runs deserted him, even though the two clearly had nothing to do with each other.

It seems like ancient history now, but Clarke was booed by his home fans as he approached the wicket at the SCG in 2011.

The public clearly decided that his apparently lavish lifestyle was unacceptable, just as the runs deserted him, even though the two clearly had nothing to do with each other.

The next year, he received a standing ovation for making a stunning triple century, and since then has enjoyed nearly universal acclaim as the team has returned to the top of world cricket.

Even threatening to break English bowler James Anderson's "fen arm" wasn't enough to end our love affair with Pup. Imagine the hyperbole had Kyrgios tried a similar sledge against Gasquet.

Clarke got his batting average ahead of his boofhead average, so everything was as it should be.

Remember too the 'fairytale' of Geelong's Steve Johnson, who came within a hair's breadth of being delisted in early 2007 after failing to tell the club that he had been arrested and spent a night in the drunk tank.

He spent some time in the reserves, started playing like a star and by the end of the year was best-on-ground in the grand final.

Johnson is spoken of as the prodigal son who had turned his life around, even though the boofheadedness never really went away.

Months after the premiership win, Johnson was caught driving more than 75km/h over the speed limit.

But by this stage he was a required player, and didn't miss any senior football for the indiscretion.

Think also of how fast the greatly-tested love that Australia's sporting fans had for Shane Warne evaporated once he had retired from the sport.

And even four Olympic gold medals weren't enough to shield Dawn Fraser from the backlash to her gargantuan levels of boofheadedness and flat-out racism in her critique of Kyrgios.

If Kyrgios becomes more successful, we can rest assured that the love will return.

In fact, if he wins Wimbledon next year, we probably wouldn't even blink an eye if he gave the umpire an atomic wedgie in celebration.

Because if there's one thing Australia loves more than a plucky loser, it's a boofhead winner.