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Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios is facing assault charges in his home country over a December incident in which he grabbed his ex-girlfriend.
Kyrgios is in England, where he qualified for the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the first time since 2014. He is due to appear in a courtroom in Canberra on August 2, a spokesman for ACT Policing – the arm of the Australian Federal Police that deals with cases in Australian Capital Territory – confirmed to The Washington Post. At the hearing, the prosecutor’s office will decide whether to press charges.
Kyrgios’ lawyer, Jason Moffett, told the Canberra Times that his client was aware of the allegation and that “it was in the context of a domestic relationship”. The charge carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison.
“The nature of the allegation is serious and Mr Kyrgios is taking it very seriously,” Moffett said. “Given that the matter is in court … he has no comment at this stage, but once time has passed we will issue a media release.”
In a statement released later on Wednesday, Kyrgios’ legal team wrote that “the allegations are not considered fact by the Court and Mr. Kyrgios is not considered to be charged with a crime” until he appears in court.
In October, it was reported that Kyrgios and his girlfriend had to be separated by police after they got into a verbal argument at an Australian quarantine hotel on their return to the country. The police placed them in separate rooms for the period of isolation.
Kyrgios, who has had plenty of mistakes on court over the years, had a torrid run to the Wimbledon quarterfinals. After his first-round win over Britain’s Paul Jubb, he admitted he spat in the direction of a fan he claimed had “disrespected” him.
“I’ve been dealing with hate and negativity for a long time, so I don’t feel like I owe this guy anything,” he added. “He literally came to the game not to support anybody, really. It was more just to make a fuss and be disrespectful. This is good. But if I give it back to you, then that’s just the way it is.”
In Saturday’s third round, both Kyrgios and opponent Stefanos Tsitsipas received code violations during Kygios’ four-set win, with Tsitsipas nearly hitting a spectator with a ball thrown from the court and nearly hitting Kyrgios with other balls sent in his direction. The Australian responded with a cynical backhand serve and incessantly urging the chair umpire to leave Tsitsipas.
After the match, Tsitsipas said Kyrgios had “good traits in his character” but noted “a very mean side to him” and said: “He was probably a bully at school himself. I don’t like hooligans.”
At Wimbledon in 2015, Kyrgios avoided penalty for his fourth-round loss to Richard Gasquet, but was fined $7,500 after hitting his racquet on the ground during a third-round win over Milos Raonic and was fined a further $2,000 for profanity during Gasquet’s loss. About a month later, the ATP fined Kyrgios about $13,000 for unsportsmanlike comments toward opponent Stan Wawrinka at the Rogers Cup.
The following year, the ATP suspended Kyrgios for eight weeks and fined him $32,000 after he dropped a match and insulted spectators at the Shanghai Masters.
Kyrgios will face Christian Garin in the Wimbledon quarter-finals on Wednesday.
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