Kyrgios facing charges of assault against ex girlfriend
Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios seems to be in the headlines even more for his inability to control his temper than for his athletic accomplishments.
From spitting at fans to harrassing refs and throwing tennis rackets, to verbal wars and “bullying”, and now accusations of assault, Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios seems to keep making headlines for all the wrong reasons. The 27-year-old reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon on Monday. He is due to face Cristan Garin in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. The winner will play either Rafael Nadal or Taylor Fritz in the semifinals.
Kyrgios charged with assaulting ex girlfriend
Kyrgios has been accused of assaulting an ex girlfriend, Chiara Passari, according to the Canberra Times. The two were reportedly dating on and off for over a year before finally calling it quits. Kyrgios will have to fly back to Australia to face the charges in court on August 2. Kyrgios’ representative, Jason Moffett, said that Kyrgios is aware of the charge. An Australian Capital Territory spokesperson said that the charge referenced an incident that happened in December 2021.
“It’s in the context of a domestic relationship,” Moffett told the Canberra Times. “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.”
Shortly after the news of the charges broke, he posted this on Instagram:
Kyrgios drama on and off the court
The news of the charges comes just days after Kyrgios made headlines for the controversy surrounding his tournament with opponent Stefanos Tsitsipas.
“It’s constant bullying,” Tsitsipas said. “That’s what he does. He bullies the opponents. He was probably a bully at school himself. I don’t like bullies. He has some good traits in his character, as well. But he also has a very evil side to him, which if it’s exposed, it can really do a lot of harm and bad to the people around him.”
Kyrgios was also recently fined $10,000 for spitting at a heckling fan plus another $4,000 for swearing during the match with Tsitsipas. He is well-known for clashing with the referees and this year’s Wimbledon tournament has been no exception.
He made news yet again for breaking the strict, all-white Wimbledon dress code in his match afainst Nakashima, wearing a pair of red Nike Air Jordan 1 Lows and red Jordan baseball hat. Kyrgios’ comments on the matter were, “I do what I want”.
Is this the same sort of entitlement that leads one to assault a woman? It, plus a lack of control over his anger, certainly has led him to verbally assault refs, hit rackets very near to them, and spit at spectators.
“What happened to Novak when he hit the ball into a girl?” asked Kyrgios after Tsitsipas hit a ball in the direcction of the crowd and narrowly missed a spectator. “She was injured. You can’t hit a ball into the crowd and hit someone and not get defaulted.”
What then, should the consequences be for physically assaulting a woman? If found guilty for the charge, in Australia, the maximum sentence would be two years in prison.