After having played the shortest match in ATP history – Tomic won just 13 points in a 28-minute, 20-second 6-0, 6-1 loss to Jarkko Nieminen at the Miami Masters  the Queenslander faces up to a seven-week wait before his next main draw appearance.

But Cash, who is in the US, said that even late May could be too soon for Tomic to make a prudent comeback from the double hip surgery required after his controversial retirement against Rafael Nadal in the first round of the Australian Open.

Tomic, who admitted he was still well below 100 per cent fitness, had originally aimed to return at next month’s Monte Carlo Masters, only to resume in Miami for reasons that are still unclear. The former Wimbledon quarter-finalist partly blamed ATP rules making participation in ATP 1000 events "compulsory", although tour officials later stated it had been Tomic’s choice to play, and an injury withdrawal would not have been penalised.

‘‘For him to rush back is a strange move, but obviously there’s something more to it,’’ said Cash, the former world No.4 and Davis Cup hero, who said he was unsure if contractual obligations had played a part in the ill-advised decision, which earned Tomic $10,086 and just 10 rankings points.

‘‘I feel very sorry for the kid. In my opinion, he doesn’t want to play tennis at all. The best thing for him to do would be to take a year off, or six months off, and try and get back and enjoy his tennis. It’s a really tough situation for him. I mean, I’ve sort of been in that situation where I really hated tennis and I didn’t want to play. So I didn’t. And then I found my interest again later on.’’

Cash said Tomic’s lack of motivation was apparent through ‘‘just the fact that he tanks matches, he doesn’t practise, just the obvious signs that he doesn’t really like competing. He might enjoy the life of making money and that sort of stuff, but it’s not easy out there, and if you’re throwing matches and not trying.

‘‘You can’t always play on centre court at the Australian Open. You play in front of your home crowd once or twice a year, and he likes Wimbledon, he’ll play there, but you can’t really make a career out of three or four tournaments a year, you have to put the hard yards in, and until you enjoy that, you’re only going to have a spattering of wins, really.

‘‘I think what we’re all missing here is his mental wellbeing; I think that’s the most important thing for this kid. That’s the thing that I’m actually quite concerned about, and I think that should be the No.1 priority of everybody, and I don’t think it is. I think everybody’s missing the boat here.

"Whether he wants help or not is another story, or whether he’ll take advice, I don’t know, but I think what he really needs to do is work out what is right for him, and if he really likes the game, and that may be playing part-time or playing bits and bobs, or taking six months off, or a year, or two years, whatever it happens to be. He’s young. There’s still plenty of time.

‘‘I’ve been in that situation, I’ve been very depressed, and I think the best thing is to get away from things and really work it out for yourself. I don’t think anybody would blame him for saying ‘I’m taking a year off to think about my life, I’m not happy, I’m injured, I want to take a year off’. People would go ‘hey, good idea’. He’s only going one way at the moment.’’

Another former Australian great, John Newcombe, said Tomic was obviously compromised on conditioning and preparation so soon after dual hip operations. But, on the subject of Tomic taking a break from the game, he added: "We'll have to see how it develops. There's been a lot of emotional stuff going on there. It's got to take a toll on anyone, and we know that in sport as in all things if you're emotionally not right you don't perform well ... It's a very complex situation, isn't it?"

An ATP spokesman confirmed from Miami that Tomic had not been fined for failing to give his ‘‘best effort’’ against Nieminen, the Finnish veteran. He has not entered any other tournaments before the French Open, and his best chance of main draw entry would appear to be in Dusseldorf from May 18. Barring an unexpected wildcard, Tomic would need to play qualifying at the next Masters 1000 event, at his home base in Monte Carlo next month.