Masur was named as one of three inaugural inductees into Tennis ACT's Walk of Fame and believes Kyrgios is a potential grand slam winner should he fulfil his potential.

Masur said it would be a big call to say Kyrgios could be one of Australia's greatest but said you would have to be "blind Freddy" not to acknowledge the 21-year-old's talent.

As doubts remain about Kyrgios' commitment to tennis, Masur said it was hard to see a return to the halcyon days of Rod Laver just yet.

"Nick obviously has this tremendous ability and he's already starting to deliver on that," Masur said.

"We've got some serious grand slam winners on our role call. Can he put his name up there with some of those players? Absolutely, but there's a long way to go between now and achieving that."

Masur said Kyrgios' standing as Australia's top-ranked player meant he had an important role to play in attracting new players to the sport, but he wasn't sure the youngster viewed it that way.

"I think he could be very positive for the sport, there is no question about that. Every sport needs its role models," Masur said.

"When I was young and playing tennis, if you look at the sports like netball, rugby league, Australian rules, they all made massive inroads and they've gone from strength to strength. Rugby union has gone from amateur to professional.

"Tennis is in a marketplace where it's got to compete with these other successful sports for the best athletes and for higher participation rates at the junior levels."

Often guilty of forgetting Kyrgios is still only 21, pundits suggest it is time for the Canberran to start achieving some big results.

But Masur said gone were the days of teenagers winning grand slam titles, and it would now take time and persistence with players "maturing later" in their careers.

"It's almost like having a few good pre-seasons under your belt are a prerequisite now to being at your very best," Masur said.

"The days of winning as a teenager seem to be gone. If anything, players seem to be playing their best tennis between the ages of 27 and 30."

Tennis ACT chief executive Ross Triffitt said Kyrgios was attracting "a new type of player" to the sport as participation rates boomed in the nation's capital.

"He's given a tremendous amount of profile to the sport," Triffitt said.

"He's not the traditional type of tennis player, and perhaps that's opened the sport up to a new market."