08 July,2013 02:20 AM IST | | AFP
Drouet was the hitting partner of Tomic who left the Australian's camp after he suffered a broken nose in an alleged late-night scuffle with the player's father, John Tomic. u00a0Tomic senior has since been accused of assault and faces a criminal trial in the Spanish capital in October.u00a0
The man! Marion Bartoli's hitting partner Thomas Drouetu00a0
All that seemed a long way away on Saturday as Drouet, who has been working with Marion Bartoli since the French Open, watched the French player clinch the Wimbledon title with a straight sets win over Germany's Sabine Lisicki.
"At the end of the match, I had a little tear," said 30-year-old Drouet.u00a0"In the fraction of a second, everything that had happened in the last few weeks passed through my head. Things don't happen by chance, I am living a great moment."
Drouet said that working with the Bartoli camp was a relief after his days with John Tomic who he described this week as a "mad, evil manipulator".
"Marion won seven matches at Wimbledon without losing a set. It's incredible, she's a great champion. Even in tough moments, she always works.
"And when all the top seeds were falling, she never got carried away. She relished every day of the tournament. All of this will stay with me."
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