Hewitt backs troubled Tomic to thrive in adversity

PARIS (AFP) –

Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt serves to France’s Gilles Simon during their French Tennis Open first round match at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris on May 26, 2013. Tomic will thrive in the harsh French Open spotlight despite his father facing an assault charge in Spain, the Australian’s Davis Cup teammate Hewitt insisted on Sunday

Troubled Bernard Tomic will thrive in the harsh French Open spotlight despite his father facing an assault charge in Spain, the Australian’s Davis Cup teammate Lleyton Hewitt insisted on Sunday.

Tomic, 20, hasn’t played since his father and coach John was arrested and charged with assaulting his son’s training partner, Frenchman Thomas Drouet, in Madrid on May 4.

Drouet was left with a broken nose after a brawl outside the hotel where players in the Madrid Masters were staying.

“It’s obviously a bit awkward, but he takes most things in his stride. I think he’ll enjoy getting out there and playing,” said Hewitt.

John Tomic has had his tour credentials cancelled while the criminal process in Spain runs its course, but Australian media reported Sunday that despite the ban, he will still be able to attend Roland Garros as a paying spectator.

As a result, Tomic senior is widely expected to be at the site on Tuesday when his son faces Romania’s Victor Hanescu in his tournament opener.

Hewitt said he had seen his compatriot in Paris and had appeared unperturbed by the controversy which had engulfed him.

“I saw him in the locker room for ten seconds on Saturday. That was it. Haven’t spoken to him apart from saying ‘hi’. He was pretty relaxed.”

Hewitt’s 13th French Open campaign, and 56th career major, ended in a bruising five-set defeat in the first round to French 15th seed Gilles Simon on Sunday.

Hewitt, a former world number one but now down at 85 in the world, had trailed 5-0 in the decider and saved two match points to claw back to 5-5.

But Simon just had enough stamina to achieve a 3-6, 1-6, 6-4, 6-1, 7-5 win, his first triumph from two sets to love down but his fourth in four meetings against the Australian.

Hewitt, 32, first played Roland Garros in 1999 and was a quarter-finalist in 2001 and 2004, but had played, and lost, his only two previous matches on clay this year coming into Paris.

The former Wimbledon and US Open champion, who now hasn’t made the quarter-finals of a major since Wimbledon in 2009, needed treatment on a blistered toe but refused to blame that setback for his defeat.

“Physically I feel good. I was never going to play a lot of clay tournaments anyway,” he said.

“I wanted to be fresh physically and mentally for the grass season. I still trained extremely hard though, so that was good. Now we will see what happens on the grass.”

Despite Sunday’s defeat, Hewitt refused to be drawn into speculation over whether or not this was his last appearance in Paris.

“Don’t know. Haven’t even thought about it,” he said.