As Kyrgios seeks dismissal of assault case on mental health grounds, Aussie advances to Tokyo second round

Australian Nick Kyrgios, the No 5 seed, defeated Chun-Hsin Tseng to move into the second round of the Japan Open in Tokyo on Tuesday on the same day that his lawyers asked for a court case of assault charges against him to be dismissed on mental health grounds.

Kyrgios needed only one hour and six minutes to beat Tseng 6-3, 6-1 on the back of his big serve and did not lose serve in the match.

The Australian slammed nine aces, won 89 percent points on his first serve and 75 percent points on his second serve in the contest.

The case against Kyrgios is expected to be heard in February 2023 next

Meanwhile, back in Australia, the case of common assault against Kyrgios came up for hearing in the courts and his lawyers asked for the charge to be dismissed on mental health grounds.

Kyrgios is facing a single charge of common assault, believed to be related to an incident involving his ex-girlfriend Chiara Passari last year.

Kyrgios’ lawyer, Michael Kukulies-Smith, asked for the hearing to be adjured so that a mental health assessment could be carried out on his client. Kyrgios has spoken openly about his mental health struggles in the past and the case is now expected to return to court on February 3.

The Aussie’s lawyers also indicated that Kyrgios will likely attend the next hearing in person although he is not legally required to.

Ranked No 20 without any points from his Wimbledon runner-up finish, Kyrgios will face Pole Kamil Majchrzak next.

Majchrzak defeated Japanese qualifier Sho Shimabukuro 7-6, 6-2 in another first-round encounter on Tuesday.

Tokyo ATP 500, first-round matches

• Rio Noguchi (Q) beat Ramkumar Ramanathan (Q): 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (1)
• Jaume Munar beat Casper Ruud (1): 6-3, 6-3
• Daniel Evans (8) beat Radu Albot: 6-7 (3), 6-1, 6-4
• Borna Coric (9) beat Thanasi Kokkinakis: 6-4, 7-6 (4)
• SoonWoo Kwon beat Alex De Minaur (6): 6-3, 6-2
• Mackenzie McDonald beat Kaichi Uchida (WC): 7-6 (4), 6-7 (2), 6-3
• Frances Tiafoe (4) beat Yasutaka Uchiyama (WC): 6-3, 6-4
• Bernabe Zapata Miralles beat Taro Daniel: 7-5, 7-5
• Brandon Nakashima beat Shintaro Mochizuki (WC): 6-3, 6-2
• Pedro Martinez beat Alexei Popyrin: 7-5, 6-4
• James Duckworth vs. Taylor Fritz : –
• Denis Shapovalov vs. Steve Johnson : –
• Miomir Kecmanovic vs. Yoshihito Nishioka : –
• Hiroki Moriya vs. Yuta Shimizu : –
• Sho Shimabukuro vs. Kamil Majchrzak : –

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