Thomas Drouet speaks in today's print edition of l'Equipe: "Last Tuesday during practice in Monaco, John Tomic hit his son. I witnessed it. A club coach was also there and saw everything. He hit him in the head with his fist. Bernard bled from the mouth around the lips and teeth. Blood was dripping onto the court. All that because Bernard told him he was tired of hearing his crap. I didn't interfere as it's been said here and there. After, John destroyed three racquets. Bam, bam, bam. A half hour later, he was joking with Bernard. I want to make it understood that this man is violent and dangerous. And unpredictable. I saw John hitting his son when I was at their house in Australia in January. He abused him physically. I know because I heard a big noise in the next room. It was clear enough ...

"Saturday morning, departure day to Madrid, I had to pick John up at his place. Bernard and Josko (physical trainer) were leaving for the airport in Nice. My girlfriend is nice enough to drive us to the airport. A few weeks earlier, at the Marseilles tournament, he threatened to fire me because I didn't get the luggage. This time, I ask him if he needs help. He says "go get me some milk." I explained to him that there wasn't enough time for that. He was furious and came down the stairs and screams: "Why didn't you get me milk? You're stupid. You're going to have problems! Come here!" I didn't appreciate him speaking to me like that, especially in front of my girlfriend. This time I approached him and said: "Now you're going to stop talking to me like a dog, I'm fed up. You couldn't go yourself and buy your milk at the Casino downstairs?" And he says, "Get a move on or I'll bust your head." As he always yells at me like that, I'm used to it. My girlfriend and I get into the car. He refuses. He calls a taxi, still threatening me. "You're fired, you're not coming to Madrid!" At the airport, it starts again. In front of everyone, Bernard too, he starts acting up, saying he doesn't want me in Madrid. That it's him or me. That he won't pay me. That I'm fired. Bernard tells him to calm down. He always does that, tells him to calm down and waits for the storm to die down. But John cancels my ticket, then tells John that I pushed him that morning in front of his house. Bernard interrupts his dad: "You're lying, I believe Thomas. He's coming to Madrid with me." He keeps it up on the plane. He insults and threatens me. "We'll settle this in Madrid, when you're not in your own country anymore." So it was premeditated. Bernard couldn't take it any more, and takes refuge at the back of the plane. Just after arriving at the hotel in Madrid, john tells me: "Drop your things, we have to talk." Then, I see he looks around, which I understand later to mean he was looking to take me somewhere out of sight. So we leave, I follow him down the stairs ... and he spits on my face. I wipe it off, that's all. I think he was trying to provoke me into being the aggressor. I don't move, and that's when he head butts me. I crumpled. I convulsed a bit and lost consciousness. It was Josko, who, when he saw John come back alone, started to worry. He found me on the floor covered in blood and sounded the alarm. John left me like that. On the floor, bleeding and unconscious. I could have been seriously injured, but he didn't care. He just left and calmly checked in. He only hit me once, but he's very strong, and he did a lot of damage. I remember his look before he hit me, a crazy look. He broke my nose lengthways. My vertebrae were damaged when I fell. The doctors told me I needed a break of four to five weeks. The police came to question me and took him into custody. Me, I was in hospital. Bernard came to see me there and said: "I'm so sorry. He went too far, it's over. I don't want him at tournaments anymore." Afterwards, they transferred me to another hotel for my own safety. I'd like to thank the ATP and the players for their support. John was there at the tribunal today (yesterday afternoon). His lawyer at first told me he was admitting everything. But when he understood that I was going to ask for the €3,000 maximum damages allowed in this jurisdiction (Drouet can expect €50,000 in damages), John said he was innocent. He's crazy. A perverted manipulator.

In the six months I've been working with him, he's made me sweat blood. He's made me do all sorts of menial work that had nothing to to with my job and paid me peanuts. I was his servant. For example, he demanded that I bring a glass of orange juice up to Bernard's room in the morning. If I ever was unlucky enough to forget to put his bottles with energy drink in the fridge, or used too much powder, he got furious.

He never wanted to give me a contract, and the longer it went, the less was the money that was offerred. Sure, a lot of people told me to stop (yesterday, Roger Rasheed, Tsonga's coach, told me he'd done that in Dubai in February). But, look, I'm divorced, I have a son, a mortgage to pay ... Salvador (physical trainer) didn't put up with it. He left. And Bernard in all this? I'm convinced he's a good guy. He needs help too. That's why I'm going to tell the whole story wo the ATP and the ITF ban him. And the WTA have to do the same thing, because, if not, he'll come on the circuit with his daughter (Sara, fifteen). Bernard has always been victimised by his father. I've heard Bernard tell John dozens of times he didn't want him on court anymore. It's difficult for him, because he doesn't know how to function any other way. He's a hostage, and he's developed a Stockholm syndrome. I'm convinced John does everything to make sure John doesn't play too well. If he does, he risks Bernard not needing him anymore. For example, at Marseilles this year, the evening of his match against Tsonga, John disappeared in the middle of the night without warning. He was supposed to deliver the racquets for restringing and he didn't do it. It's always the same film. He's done damage we can't fix. Now? I'm still in shock. I gave up everything to be with the Tomics. I've got no job. Nothing. I made a some money doing a bit of modeling, but now, with my face ... I was booked for May 17th. That's compromised."

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