(May 6, 2013) -- John Tomic's difficult reputation has apparently landed him in a Madrid jail.
The father of Australian tennis star
Bernard Tomic was arrested for allegedly head butting and breaking the nose of his son's hitting partner during an altercation a few days ago in Madrid.
According to initial reports, Tomic's father attacked Thomas Drouet, a former ATP player, who has been working as Tomic's hitting partner for several months. The incident occurred outside the player's hotel for this week's Mutua Madrid Open where Tomic was competing.
FoxSports Australia is reporting that players
Alexandr Dolgopolov and
Janko Tipsarevic witnessed the attack from their hotel rooms.
Although the story was announced on a wide basis by tennis journalist Matt Cronin via Twitter on Sunday, a post from Salvador Sosa Llop on Twitter May 4th may have been the first public revelation online.
As to the cause of the altercation, French journalist Eric Salliot on Twitter posted that a Monte Carlo news outlet claimed that John Tomic hit his son while in Monte Carlo and that sparked a later argument between John Tomic and Drouet while they were en route to Madrid.
Tennis Australia released a terse statement saying, "Obviously media reports regarding an incident in Madrid are very concerning. We are working closely with ATP officials who are investigating the incident and are unable to comment further until the full facts are known."
On Monday, French newspaper L'Equipe reported Bernard Tomic said the following in a statement, "I didn't see anything. I know my dad is sorry and upset. I tried to talk to Thomas but he's in hospital."
Tomic lost in the opening round of Madrid to
Radek Stepanek 6-3, 6-2.
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(Photo Credit: Getty Images) |