Tennis Australia has defended Nick Kyrgios's conditional eight-week ban after a leading sports psychologist branded the suspension too soft.
Kyrgios will be free to return to the ATP Tour on November 7 if "he enters a plan of care under the direction of a sports psychologist".
Otherwise the world No.14 won't be allowed to compete again until the Australian Open starting on January 16.
"You're not going to solve Nick's issues in three weeks," Jeff Bond told AAP on Tuesday after the ATP also hit Kyrgios with an additional $US25,000 ($A32,600) fine for his Shanghai Masters meltdown last week.
"I'm an optimist but the thing that worries me now is that he's had both arms twisted up behind his back to actually consult with somebody.
"And that's obviously not the right motivation to want to do that.
"If it was me, I'd want to look him right in the eye and ask him: 'Why are you doing this? Are you doing this because you have to or because you really want to?'"
Bond, who worked with former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash, urged Kyrgios to fully commit to getting his head right before resuming his playing career.
"Don't take the easy way out and reduce your suspension to three weeks," he said.
"Cop it sweet."
Tennis Australia believes the governing body of men's tennis has got the sanctioning right.
"If everybody had abandoned Agassi, we wouldn't have one of the great philanthropists in sport."
"The tour had no choice but to give him this ban, but I don't think throwing the book at someone or throwing away the key is going to help anybody in this situation," said TA spokesman and the organisation's former head of men's tennis Todd Woodbridge.
"It has finished the season off for him.
"Is it too light? I think it's what was required. I don't think just abandoning him is going to help at all.
"This is showing that there needs to be some remorse taken for his actions and some accountability.
"But it's also understanding that at 21 he's still a young guy living out all of his issues under a spotlight in front of the world's media and that's not easy for anyone to do.
"The tour and the tennis fraternity need to be sure that we're trying to help him overcome those issues because it's better not just for him but also for the sport."
Woodbridge likened the prodigiously talented but mercurial Kyrgios to a young Andre Agassi.
"Of course Nick hasn't won majors like Agassi had, but Agassi was a guy who was troubled and whose marriage fell apart," he said.
"He had some addictive issues that he dealt with and he's turned that around to be one of the real positives of sport.
"If everybody had abandoned Agassi, we wouldn't have one of the great philanthropists in sport."
ATP boss Chris Kermode claimed Kyrgios was "distraught" about his poor behaviour in Shanghai, where he blatantly gave up his second-round match against Mischa Zverev, and said it was important the game reached out to him.
"He is a young athlete with a huge amount of talent for whom the spotlight is sometimes too much," Kermode said.
"The saddest part is that to the outside world it comes across that he doesn't care. But it's actually a defence mechanism to deal with the situation.
"He needs to channel that. A lot of it is immaturity but you learn through experience.
"We took the view he needed to be suspended and there is also an obligation not to be just the policeman but to try and help as well."
