The tennis player Nick Kyrgios is due to face a court in Australia after being summonsed to face a charge of assaulting a former girlfriend.
The 27-year-old Australian, who reached the quarter-finals of Wimbledon on Monday, will appear in court in Canberra next month.
Australian Capital Territory policing confirmed on Tuesday that Kyrgios had been summonsed to face a charge of assaulting his former girlfriend. It relates to an incident in Canberra last December.
“ACT policing can confirm a 27-year-old Watson man is scheduled to face the ACT magistrates court on 2 August in relation to one charge of common assault following an incident in December 2021,” a spokesperson said.
The summons reportedly relates to an allegation that Kyrgios grabbed a former partner, according to the Canberra Times.
The maximum sentence for the charge is two years.
Kyrgios’s barrister, Jason Moffett, from Key Chambers, confirmed to the Canberra Times that his client was aware of the allegation.
“It’s in the context of a domestic relationship,” he 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.”
In a statement released later on Tuesday, Kyrgios’s lawyer Pierre Johannessen said: “At the present time, the allegations are not considered as fact by the court, and Mr Kyrgios is not considered charged with an offence until the first appearance.
“Until the court formally accepts the prosecution will be proceeding with a charge, and that the charge before the court is to be applied to the person summoned to appear, it may be misleading to the public to describe the summons in any other manner than a formal direction to appear to face allegations, the precise nature of which is neither certain at this moment nor confirmed by either the prosecution or Mr Kyrgios.
“While Mr Kyrgios is committed to addressing any and all allegations once clear, taking the matter seriously does not warrant any misreading of the process Mr Kyrgios is required to follow.”
Asked about the allegation after a practice session at SW19 on Tuesday, Kyrgios said: “I feel like I’m in the Last Dance.” The Last Dance is a Netflix documentary series chronicling the rise of basketball player Michael Jordan.
Kyrgios is in a relationship with the social media influencer Costeen Hatzi, who has joined him in London for the championships. The couple, who are rumoured to be engaged, have posted a series of photographs on Instagram, documenting their sightseeing tours of London and practice sessions at SW19.
The world No 40 faces Chile’s Cristian Garín on Court One on Wednesday for a place in the semi-finals. Wednesday’s schedule was produced two hours after news of Kyrgios’s alleged assault was made public.
An All England Club spokesperson said: “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. We are in touch with Nick’s team and he remains scheduled to play his quarter-final match tomorrow.”
