Bernard Tomic says nothing has changed between him and his dad since the assault charge against his father, insisting he loves him and “he’ll always be my coach”.

However, the 20-year-old said after his French Open exit he planned to bring in another assistant coach to help fill the void with his dad banned from attending matches.

Tomic, 20, spoke at length for the first time since John Tomic was charged with assaulting Tomic’s training partner, Frenchman Thomas Drouet, in Madrid on May 4.

Speaking after he retired hurt while trailing Romanian Victor Hanescu by two sets to love in a first-round match on Tuesday, Tomic opened his media conference by declaring his support for his father and said he did not want to comment directly on the incident involving Drouet.

“He’s here right now in Paris so, you know, he’s still working with me, he’s still my dad, he’s still my coach and, you know, I love him a lot,” Tomic said.

“Involving the incidents that happened, I don’t want to talk about it a lot or at all, I should say. It’s a very difficult thing for me, you know, to put my words into that.”

Tomic revealed he felt a tear in his right leg in just the second point of Tuesday’s match.

He eventually succumbed with Hanescu up 7-5 7-6 (10-8) 2-1.

Despite the injury, he battled hard but admitted it was a “little bit different” without his father courtside.

And he said he was in talks with “two or three coaches” to come in and assist, probably after Wimbledon.

“My dad’s still my coach and he’ll always be because, you know, I grew up with him and he knows me better than everyone else,” Tomic said.

“But, you know, I might put someone else on board that can, you know, help my dad sort of and them two people, you know, negotiate.”

Tomic said he would decide on the appointment over the next week or so.

“Who knows? Maybe you’ll see someone you don’t expect,” he said.

Tomic claimed he’d been able to maintain a good frame of mind and not let the drama and intense media spotlight surrounding his father affect him coming to Roland Garros.

“I’m the type of guy where I can sort of let these things sort of go. I was feeling fine,” he said.

“I mean, the last two weeks I was training well, playing well, didn’t think a lot about it, was not worried.”

“To be honest, I didn’t think about it the last sort of week.

“But then that happened in the match today, and it just, you know, it’s unlucky.”

The start of the match was delayed by more than two hours due to rain but Tomic looked relaxed when he arrived.

However, he began clutching at his leg early on and was visibly limping between games.

He led the first set 3-1, and received treatment midway through the opener, before Hanescu fought back to win it 7-5.

Tomic pushed on and forced the second set to a tiebreaker before rain halted play for more than an hour.

He was well in the tiebreak when play resumed, unleashing several big winners, but Hanescu edged it 10-8.

Tomic decided he’d had enough after being broken in the third game of the third set.

He said the injury was not serious and would only keep him out of training for about a week before beginning his Wimbledon build-up at Queen’s in a fortnight.

John Tomic denies assaulting Drouet, saying he was acting in self defence, and the case will be heard at a Madrid court in October.

Bernard Tomic did not comment on claims made by Drouet that he’d also seen John hit his son on several occasions.