Nick Kyrgios trains at Wimbledon after being accused of assaulting ex-girlfriend
Nick Kyrgios has learnt whether he will play the Wimbledon quarter-final, with the grand slam chief responding to the allegations.
Tennis
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Aussie tennis star Nick Kyrgios’ Wimbledon fate has been revealed after he was accused of assaulting his ex-girlfriend, Chiara Passari.
Kyrgios, who is in the UK and is scheduled to play Chilean Cristian Garin in a Wimbledon quarter-final on Wednesday, split with Ms Passari last year in a highly publicised break-up.
The 27-year-old, who has been charged with assault, is due to face court in August over the alleged incident last December.
“ACT Policing can confirm a 27-year-old Watson man is scheduled to face the ACT Magistrates Court on August 2 in relation to one charge of common assault following an incident in December 2021,” an ACT Policing spokeswoman said on Tuesday night.
It’s understood the charge, which carries a maximum jail sentence of two years, relates to an allegation Kyrgios grabbed Ms Passari.
The All England Club, which runs the Wimbledon tournament, released a statement confirming Kyrgios’ quarter-final would go ahead.
“We have been made aware of legal proceedings involving Nick Kyrgios in Australia, and as they are ongoing, we are not in a position to offer a comment,” the statement read.
“We are in touch with Nick’s team and he remains scheduled to play his quarter-final match tomorrow.”
Wimbledon chief executive Sally Bolton addressed the controversial character of Kyrgios on Monday.
“We don’t have a clear view of what is considered to be a perfect champion,” she told reporters.
“And it’s a long way to the final so let’s see what happens.”
Pierre Johannessen, of Johannessen Legal, confirmed his firm was representing Kyrgios.
In a statement, Mr Johannessen said Kyrgios was “taking the matter seriously” and was committed to addressing “any and all allegations once clear”.
Barrister Jason Moffett, acting on behalf of Kyrgios, confirmed he had been briefed in the matter.
“It’s in the context of a domestic relationship,” Mr Moffett said.
“The nature of the allegation is serious, and Mr Kyrgios takes the allegation very seriously.
“Given the matter is before the court … he doesn’t have a comment at this stage, but in the fullness of time we’ll issue a media release.”
Kyrgios was approached by reporters after he practised at Wimbledon on Tuesday.
He didn’t answer any of their questions but said to one of his team members, “I feel like I’m in the Last Dance”, appearing to reference a scene from the Michael Jordan documentary where he was surrounded by a large contingent of media.
Kyrgios and his current girlfriend Costeen Hatzi also shared posts on social media hours after the tennis star was charged with assault.
Kyrgios posted a video on his Instagram story of Ms Hatzi posing for a photo in front of a mirror with a peace sign.
Instead of taking a photo, like Ms Hatzi thought, Kyrgios recorded a video.
“If you’re doing a video, I’m going to punch you in the face,” Ms Hatzi said.
Kyrgios also posted a photo showing him interacting with a young girl at Wimbledon.
“This is why I play. To all my youngsters out there, believe in yourself,” he captioned the image, alongside a heart emoji.
Passari and Kyrgios started dating in the middle of 2020 for a period of 18 months.
The relationship began just three months after Kyrgios split from Russian tennis player Anna Kalinskaya.
Passari lifted the lid on their tumultuous relationship in an interview with The Daily Telegraph in December last year, where she said the 27-year old “love-bombed” her in the early stages of their relationship.
“He love-bombed me for the first three months,” she said.
Passari also described the tennis star as “manipulative” and said he was looking for cracks in their relationship “to use against me”.
Born and raised in Canberra, Kyrgios won his first grand slam after taking out this year’s Australian Open men’s doubles title with childhood friend Thanasi Kokkinakis.
Kyrgios is in the midst of a turbulent Wimbledon campaign where he called a linesman a “snitch”, was fined for spitting at a fan and engaged in a war of words with world No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas after their heated third-round clash.
The circus hasn’t hurt his play on the court – the world No.40 is in the midst of the deepest Wimbledon run by an Australian male in eight years.
This year’s Wimbledon marks the first time Kyrgios reached a singles grand slam quarter-final since his breakout tournament in 2014.
His current girlfriend, 22-year-old Costeen Hatzi, has been supporting him court-side.
The couple has been dating since December last year, with Kyrgios regularly showering her with gifts of luxury handbags. He also got her name tattooed on his body.
Kyrgios attained his highest singles ranking of No.13 in 2016.