Tennis player Nick Kyrgios will appear before an Australian court this August to face an assault charge from an incident with a former girlfriend.
Kyrgios, whose mother is Malay, has just advanced to the Wimbledon semifinals.
News of the charge was first reported on Tuesday by The Canberra Times. In a statement to CNN, Australian police confirmed that a man in his late twenties would appear before the court in August.
“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 stated.
According to CBS Sports, the charge carries a maximum jail sentence of two years. The charge relates to an allegation that Kyrgios grabbed former partner Chiara Passari.
Jason Moffett, the barrister representing Kyrgios, said he is aware of the charge. He added that Kyrgios will not comment yet.
“The nature of the allegation is serious, and Mr. Kyrgios takes the allegation very seriously,” he told The Canberra Times. “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.”
Fans of Kyrgios have criticized his former girlfriend Passari for the timing of the charge, calling it opportunistic. News of the charge broke on the even of his quarterfinal Wimbledon match. According to Fox Sports Australia, Passari says she went to ACT police in December 2021 with the allegation. It then took seven months for a charge to be brought.
Passari has responded to someone who defended the timing of the allegation on Instagram.
“Thank you,” she wrote in a reply to an Instagram comment. “Finally someone smart enough to understand how the justice system works.”
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