Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios is set to face court on alleged assault charges in October after a Canberra magistrate denied his appeal for a three-month-long delay on Tuesday. The 27-year-old was not present for the initial hearing, and details of the charge have not been made public yet.
During brief proceedings, Kyrgios’ lawyer Michael Kukulies-Smith addressed that he would hope to have the case heard on 25 November. Kukulies-Smith has not outlined any details of the application, citing the presence in court of a "large contingent of media."
He said the world number 26, who reached his first Grand Slam final at Wimbledon last month and is due to play at the US Open in New York starting on Monday, was in the Australian capital but there was a time frame at that time in November. Magistrate Louise Taylor talked about how she was being asked to allow an extended adjournment of the case for unknown reasons.
Magistrate Taylor said, “I am not sure what the case is for the secrecy … [The proposed November date is] an indulgence for you and your client. I am not going to list the matter on the basis of some application that might be made.”
Talking about the objection reports say that Kyrgios's former partner Chiara Passari made the complaint. The charges were related to a ‘domestic relationship’. "ACT Policing had confirmed 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 said.
"It's in the context of a domestic relationship," Kyrgios's attorney Jason Moffett was quoted as saying by the Australian media regarding the incident. "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," the statement continued.
Kyrgios had also reacted to the allegations during a Wimbledon 2022 press conference. He said, “Obviously I have a lot of thoughts, a lot of things I want to say, kind of my side about it. Obviously, I’ve been advised by my lawyers that I’m unable to say anything at this time.”
