Nick Kyrgios remained tight-lipped over allegations of common assault on a former girlfriend after reaching the Wimbledon semi-final for the first time in his career.
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The Aussie charged through to his first ever Grand Slam semi-final in a straight sets victory over Cristian Garin, setting up a huge clash against Rafael Nadal, who cast doubt over his participation after suffering an abdominal injury during his five-set win over American Taylor Fritz.
Ahead of his quarter-final match against Garin, ACT police confirmed the 27-year-old Australian was to appear in a Canberra court next month after a complaint was made by Kyrgios’ former partner Chiara Passari.
While Kyrgios ignored questions about the assault claims before his quarter-final, the Australian addressed the allegations during his post-match press conference.
“Obviously I have a lot of thoughts, a lot of things I want to say, kind of my side about it,” he said. “I’ve been advised by my lawyers that I’m unable to say anything at this time.
“Look, I understand everyone wants to kind of ask about it and all that, but I can’t give you too much on that right now.”
Kyrgios said it was difficult to read the reports about the alleged claims in the lead up to his clash with Garin, but it did not impact him mentally.
“Didn’t really affect me at all, to be honest with you,” he said. “Obviously seeing it — I’m only human. Obviously everyone else was asking questions. It was hard.
“It was hard to kind of just focus on kind of the mission at hand. It was quarter-finals of Wimbledon today. I know deep down that’s what I was prepared for.”
Nadal, who won Wimbledon in 2008 and 2010, leads Kyrgios 6-3 head-to-head; they are 1-all at Wimbledon. In 2014, Kyrgios, then just 19 and ranked 144th, announced himself to the world by winning; in 2019, Nadal took the rematch after Kyrgios spent the night before at a local pub into the wee hours.
“I feel like that would be a mouth-watering kind of encounter for everyone around the world,” Kyrgios, never afraid of a little hyperbole, said about facing Nadal again. “That would probably be the most-watched match of all time.”
Kyrgios became the first unseeded and lowest-ranked man to get to the final four at the All England Club since 2008 by playing what, for him, amounts to a restrained and efficient brand of tennis against Garin.
“I thought my ship had sailed,” Kyrgios said. “Obviously, I didn’t go about things great early in my career and may have wasted that little window.”
Kyrgios, who is ranked 40th, has garnered more attention for his behavior on and off the court than his skills with a racket in hand. His match against the unseeded Garin, a 26-year-old from Chile, came a day after police in Canberra, Australia, said that Kyrgios is due in court next month to face an allegation of common assault stemming from something that happened in December.
“I have a lot of thoughts, a lot of things I want to say, kind of my side about it,” Kyrgios said at his post-match news conference Wednesday. “Obviously I’ve been advised by my lawyers that I’m unable to say anything at this time.”
After his first-round victory at Wimbledon last week, Kyrgios was fined $10,000 for spitting in the direction of a heckling spectator. His third-round victory over No. 4 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas was as contentious as can be, and Kyrgios was fined another $4,000 for an audible obscenity; afterward, Tsitsipas called him a “bully” and “evil.”
Worth noting, too, is how well Kyrgios has been playing. His serve, in particular, is among the best in the game, regularly topping 130 mph, and he pounded 17 aces against Garin while getting broken just once — in the very first game, at love.
His big forehands are terrific, too, but little else is conventional about Kyrgios. One example: “I don’t have a coach,” Kyrgios said with a smile. “I would never put that burden on someone.”