The ATP will review John Tomic’s tour ban in May as planned after he was found guilty of headbutting his son Bernard’s former training partner.
A Madrid court on Friday convicted tennis coach Tomic of causing bodily harm on Frenchman Thomas Drouet on May 4 outside a hotel in the Spanish capital.
Tomic received an eight-month jail sentence but, in line with Spanish law, he will not have to go to prison because he has no criminal record and the sentence is for less than two years.
Tomic, who is still his son’s coach, had his credentials suspended after the incident and the ATP announced in June the ban would remain in place until May.
Had Tomic escaped conviction he could have appealed to have his tour ban overturned.
But, in light of the court’s decision, the men’s tour told AAP there was no change to its position.
Bernard Tomic says he’s struggled with not having his father at tournaments and he’s set to remain without his courtside support at next year’s Australian Open.
Drouet was left with a broken nose from the incident, which occurred during the Madrid Masters.
Spanish prosecutors had asked for a two-year jail sentence for Tomic, who argued he acted in self defence.
Judge Jacobo Vigil found “Mr Tomic dealt a headbutt to the face of Mr Drouet. It was not proven that Mr Drouet had previously assaulted Mr Tomic.”
The court also imposed a restraining order for Tomic to remain more than 500m from Drouet.
The decision can be appealed.
John Tomic’s ATP ban meant he was not present for his son’s grand slam campaigns at the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open.
ATP rules leave it up to individual tournaments to decide whether he can attend events as a paying spectator and he did so at at Queen’s and Eastbourne earlier this year.
Bernard Tomic has been critical of the ATP’s handling of the issue, claiming the tour did not consider his welfare when banning his father.
The 20-year-old is training in Munich ahead of next week’s Davis Cup clash against Poland in Warsaw.