But the evidence is hard to ignore. And seeing the "overweight kid from Canberra" smiling and joking after winning his 11^th match in nine days on Wednesday gave the impression the new Nick Kyrgios is here to stay.

"[I've learnt] that I can be really, really resilient at times," Kyrgios said on the Tennis Channel.

"In the past I probably would have pulled out of doubles ... I know at times I haven't always been the best example going out on court. Kind of not giving my best effort.

"But I feel like when I have a week like [last week], it kind of just erases those things [from the past] and shows how much I've grown. Hopefully I keep having these good results."

Kyrgios beat Sebastian Baez 6-4 6-4 at the Canadian Open on Wednesday, setting up a second-round showdown with world No.1 Daniil Medvedev in the early hours of Thursday.

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It will be the biggest test of Kyrgios' newfound resolve since he lost the Wimbledon final to Novak Djokovic, but it's also an opportunity to make a statement about his US Open credentials.

Kyrgios has hit a purple patch of form this year, finally playing the sort of tennis many knew he was capable of if he was able to find the hunger to succeed.

He won the Australian Open doubles title with Thanasi Kokkinakis, squared off with Djokovic in the Wimbledon final and then ended a three-year singles title drought in Washington DC last week.

The 27-year-old was in stunning form in Washington DC, going 64 games without losing serve and teaming up with Jack Sock to win the doubles.

So many hours on the court would've broken Kyrgios' spirit in years gone by. One contentious call could have knocked him off kilter and sent him into a spiral of tanking, racket smashing or ranting and raving.

The thing with Kyrgios is that it always feels like another implosion is around the corner, but his efforts of the past few months have started to turn the wheel.

"If I can do it, anyone can do it. If you look at my baby photos or from when I was in high school, I was literally an overweight kid who didn't have any gift athletically," Kyrgios said.

"I've just kind of bloomed into this Nick Kyrgios who can win singles and doubles titles in Washington. If I can do it, people can look at me and use me as an inspiration or example that you can have the lifestyle if you really train hard and believe in yourself.

"A kid from Canberra - I never thought I'd be on private jets and stuff. It's ridiculous if I think about it."

Kyrgios said family was behind his form surge. His mum Nill is in hospital recovering from surgery and cannot join him on the world circuit.

"My mum is unable to travel [at the moment], I feel like I'm giving her some strength," Kyrgios said.

"She's watching me from there, and dad hasn't been well either. I feel like I'm playing for a lot of people at the moment. My brother [Christos] had a kid, George, and I haven't met him. I'm just trying to be a better example."

The Wimbledon runner-up admitted he was a little jaded after claiming his first title in three years last week.

"Physically I feel fine. Mentally I'm just so tired," Kyrgios said. "Obviously it's never easy. I haven't had much sleep the last couple of nights.

"But I'm trying to put that behind me. I'm in Montreal and I haven't really played great tennis in Montreal in the past so I wanted to come out here today and get that match-up.

"Playing Medvedev next is a great test. It will be great fun but I just wanted to create some good memories in Montreal."

After being banned from Wimbledon, Medvedev has hit the ground running back on hard courts, the Russian also reigning last week in Los Cabos, Mexico without losing a set.

Alex de Minaur also moved comfortably in to the second round of the Masters 1000 event.

The Australian No.1 needed only five points and three minutes to mop up a 7-5 7-6 (7-4) win after rain had forced the suspension of play on Monday with the second-set tiebreak locked up at 3-3.

After claiming his sixth career title last month in Atlanta, de Minaur's victory was his eighth from his past 10 hard-court matches.

The 2020 US Open quarter-finalist next plays Grigor Dimitrov after the Bulgarian beat Canadian wildcard Alexis Galarneau 6-4 7-5 in his opener.

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