Amid Assault Charges, Nick Kyrgios Reaches First Major Semifinal At Wimbledon

With assault charges hanging over him in his native Australia, Nick Kyrgios continues to march through the Wimbledon draw.

Despite facing a court date on Aug. 2 due to an alleged assault of a former girlfriend, the mercurial 27-year-old star reached his fist major semifinal with a 6-4, 6-4, 7-6(5) victory over Cristian Garín of Chile in the quarterfinals. He’s the first Australian to reach a major semifinal since Lleyton Hewitt at the 2005 U.S. Open.

“It’s an amazing atmosphere out here again,” he said on court. “I just never thought I’d be at a semifinal of a Grand Slam, honestly I thought my ship had sailed.

“Obviously, I didn’t go about things great earlier in my career and my have wasted that little window but you know I’m just really proud of the way I’ve come back out here and my team and just the on-court performance.”

Kyrgios will meet No. 2 Rafael Nadal, who overcame an abdominal injury to beat American Taylor Fritz in five sets for his 19th straight major victory this season. Nadal remains alive for the first calendar Grand Slam since Rod Laver in 1969 but his fitness going forward remains a question.

Three-time defending champion and No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic will face No. 9 Cam Norrie of Britain in the other semifinal. Djokovic has won 26 straight matches at Wimbledon but Norrie should have huge hometown support.

Nadal holds a 6-3 edge on Kyrgios, but they have split two matches at Wimbledon.

“Obviously, it would be pretty special to play Rafa here,” Kyrgios said. “We’ve had some absolute battles on that Centre Court. He’s won against me and I’ve won one against him so obviously we know two completely different personalities and I feel like we respect the hell out of each other so I feel like that would be a mouth-watering kind of encounter for everyone around the world. That would probably be the most-watched match of all time, I would argue that.”

According to a report from The Canberra Times, Kyrgios has been charged with one count of common assault related to an incident from December with then-girlfriend Chiara Passari. The charge holds a maximum penalty of two years in prison.

The couple was reportedly stuck in quarantine in Adelaide and weren’t getting along and Kyrgios reportedly grabbed her. They had to be separated and moved to separate rooms.

Attorney Jason Moffett, who represents Kyrgios, confirmed his client was aware of the summons.

“It’s in the context of a domestic relationship,” he told The Canberra Times.

“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.”

On the court, Kyrgios has carried on playing some of the best tennis of his career. He beat No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas in a highly charged third-round match that saw Tsitsipas aim balls at both Kyrgios and the fans, and then take shots at Kyrgios after the match. Tsitsipas called Kyrgios a “bully” and said he has a “very evil side.”

Kyrgios then prevailed in a less eventful five-set epic over American Brandon Nakashima in the fourth round.

Against Garin, Kyrgios served up an ace to close out the second set.

In the tiebreak, he got a quick mini-break and raced out to a 3-1 lead but then dropped four straight points to go down 5-3.

He earned a match point by coming to the net and winning the battle after several volleys when Garin netted a forehand.

On match point, Garin stroked a backhand wide, sending Kyrgios into his first major semifinal.

He joked that he didn’t have a full-time coach because “I’d never put that burden on someone, but each and every one of my team plays a very important role. I feel like no one knows my tennis better than I do. I’ve been playing this sport since I was 7, and semifinals of a Grand Slam, I’m pretty happy.”