And Bond believes Nick Kyrgios is facing a similar crossroad – to work out what he loves about the game.

The world No.26 made the shock admission he "doesn't really like the sport of tennis that much" on Wimbledon eve, and has polarised fans further with his explosive feuds with chair umpires, the latest after his round two win over Juan Monaco. 

Bond rated Kyrgios' claim a real concern, and said he's in danger of emulating John McEnroe by becoming reliant on "blow-ups" to perform.

He said Cash's ability to rediscover why he developed a passion for the sport was a "huge turning point" before he lifted tennis's most famous trophy in 1987.

Like Kyrgios, Cash was known for his on-court volatility early in his career, but Bond helped him channel that aggression more positively.

"Nick's already come out and said he doesn't exactly love tennis. That to me's an issue. He needs to find something to love in it, and it may be something different to being an entertainer," Bond said.

"I got the same statement from Cash before [his] Wimbledon [win]. He said 'I hate tennis. I'm good at it, but I hate it because of the pressure and expectations'.

"I asked him 'why the hell are you playing?' and he struggled to find an answer.

"It took him a day but he came back with the perfect answer. He said 'I want to outsmart my opponent, which I read as the intellectual challenge, and 'feeling the ball come off the middle of my racquet', something very physical.

"It was a huge turning point, because it set the foundation for working on reinforcing the things he loves about tennis. Right now, I'd be asking Nick the same question."

Bond believes there's merit to the belief that Kyrgios thrives on the "me against the world" mentality on court, but said he risks emulating countryman Bernard Tomic and polarising fans before his career takes off.

"Nick's at the point now where if his blow-ups produce better play, he may well get in the habit of relying on the blow-ups like McEnroe did," Bond said.

"Nick thinks he needs be the entertainer, and to be an entertainer he has to blow up from time to time.

"I reckon he might want to have a second think about that. I'd find other ways to do it and I believe he can. Patrick [Cash] did.

"The risk with someone like Nick Kyrgios is he's going to alienate a lot of people. There's a lot to lose if he hangs on to this need to explode."

However, Bond warned it's important not to clamp down on Kyrgios completely, or risk extinguishing the passion that elevates his game.

"That was one of the things I was very conscious of, working with Patrick. My mantra was don't put the fire out, we've just got to redirect it," he said.

"Nick Kyrgios is like that. He looks laconic on court but he's a high-intensity player who plays his best when up and about.

"We were conscious of the fact Pat played best with his arousal system at a very high level, which is hard to sustain over four or five sets.

"Sometimes [when it goes down] players smash a racquet, abuse somebody or hit a ball out of the stadium. Other times they make lazy errors, get cranky and explode over that.

"The program Patrick and I worked hard on was making sure that energy was channelled in the right direction."

Bond said Kyrgios could do worse than have a chat with Lleyton Hewitt about his early days on tour, where his antics got him in hot water more than once.

He eventually learned to channel that passion into becoming one of the most competitive players ever, and farewelled Wimbledon this week with two Grand Slam titles under his belt.

"If you wound the Lleyton Hewitt clock back to when he was young, he was aggressive and competitive too," Bond said.

"But look at how he ended up: he's the elder statesman and everyone admired the hell out of the bloke because of his competitive tenacity.

"He [Kyrgios] could do a lot worse than that [confide in Hewitt], it would be a very smart thing for him to do."

When Bond congratulated Cash after his Wimbledon win, Cash replied: "It wasn't bad but it wasn't great, I still made mistakes. What did you see out there I could do better?"

"I don't know Nick but the difference I see is Patrick is an absolutely elite-level student of the game," Bond said. "He was desperate to be successful, and I question that with Nick.

"It's a sign of a yet to mature mindset in a young player who is fresh on the scene, and carrying a fair bit of weight of expectation.

"Some players need a brawl impending to play at their best. It may not be pretty to watch but it works, and I see some of that in Nick."