MELBOURNE • Bernard Tomic has called Lleyton Hewitt a "liar", after the Australian Davis Cup captain claimed he had been blackmailed and physically threatened by the firebrand.

The explosive allegations made by Hewitt on Thursday followed an ugly war of words in which Tomic claimed the two-time Grand Slam champion had ruined the national system and "no one likes him any more".

Hewitt responded by calling Tomic "a clown", while alleging he tried to coerce him by demanding wildcards and threatening to sit out of Cup matches.

Tomic responded, telling the Herald Sun on Friday he had "never threatened his family", adding: "Nice, Lleyton. To think how low of a person you actually are. (It's) why the Australian public never liked you.

"I got nothing to do with your family and I don't care what's wrong with you."

And yesterday, Tomic's father John said he planned legal action against Hewitt over an incident that supposedly occurred when his son was a Cup debutant, leaving Tomic "shocked".

He told the Sydney Morning Herald Hewitt came to his son's hotel room during a tie against Chinese Taipei in March 2010 and pressured him to inform who from Tennis Australia (TA) was telling him what to say publicly.

Hewitt had then been highly critical of TA during a period of turmoil for TA.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE