Kyrgios says it was “hard to focus” on quarter-final after assault claim

Nick Kyrgios admitted it was “hard to focus” on his quarter-final match at Wimbledon on Wednesday, 24 hours after an Australian newspaper revealed he is the subject of an accusation of assault against a former girlfriend.

Kyrgios has been summonsed to appear in a magistrates’ court on August 2 “in relation to one charge of common assault following an incident in December 2021”.

The Australian reached his first Grand Slam semi-final with victory over Christian Garin of Chile on Wednesday and though he said he could not talk about the legal action itself and said it “didn’t really affect me at all”, he admitted it had been on his mind.

“Obviously seeing it, I’m only human,” he said. “Obviously I read about it and 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.”

Kyrgios said he was unable to talk about the accusation itself.

“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,” he said. “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.”

Another of Kyrgios’ former girlfriends, Ajla Tomljanovic, was also asked about the incident after her quarter-final at Wimbledon on Wednesday. Tomljanovic said she was “not really aware of exactly what’s being said”.

But when told that he had been summonsed for an accusation of common assault, she said: “It’s been a while since our relationship ended.

“Obviously I’ve always kept my relationship very private. I would like to keep it like that. I’m definitely against domestic violence. I hope it gets resolved. But, yeah, I mean, I haven’t had that experience with him.”

In a statement released on Tuesday, Kyrgios’ 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.”

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