LONDON (Reuters) – Nick Kyrgios remained tight-lipped over allegations of common assault on a former girlfriend after reaching the Wimbledon semi-final for the first time in his career on Wednesday.
On the eve of his quarter-final match against Chile’s Cristian Garin, local police confirmed the 27-year-old Australian was to appear in a Canberra court next month.
Australian media said the charge was related to a complaint made by Kyrgios’s former partner Chiara Passari.
The controversial Kyrgios made headlines for the right reasons on Wednesday when he beat Garin in three sets, but afterwards he was asked about the allegations.
“Obviously I have a lot of thoughts, a lot of things I want to say, kind of my side about it,” he said. “I’ve been advised by my lawyers that I’m unable to say anything at this time.
“Look, I understand everyone wants to kind of ask about it and all that, but I can’t give you too much on that right now.”
He did say, however, that it had been hard to read the stories in the build-up to his match, but that he had not let them affect his performance on the court.
“Didn’t really affect me at all, to be honest with you,” he said. “Obviously seeing it — I’m only human. Obviously everyone else was asking questions. It was hard.
“It was hard to kind of just focus on kind of the mission at hand. It was quarter-finals of Wimbledon today. I know deep down that’s what I was prepared for.”
A statement from Australian Capital Territory Policing on Tuesday did not identify Kyrgios but The Canberra Times quoted the lawyer of the former world number 13 as saying that the charge was related to a “domestic relationship”.
“ACT Policing can confirm a 27-year-old Watson man is scheduled to face the ACT Magistrates court on the 2nd of August in relation to one charge of common assault following an incident in December 2021,” the police said.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Toby Davis)
