Kyrgios' ex-girlfriend speaks out for first time since assault charge

Chiara Passari is speaking out as her ex-boyfriend, Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios, faces a charge for allegedly assaulting her.

Kyrgios is accused of grabbing Passari in a December 2021 incident, which she is said to have informed the authorities of that same month, according to Fox Sports Australia, which noted, “the process of Kyrgios being summonsed then took seven months.” Passari has since defended herself on social media amid the timing of the allegations, as the 27-year-old athlete was slated to take on Chile’s Christian Garin in a quarterfinal match Wednesday at Wimbledon.

“Thank you. Finally someone smart enough to understand how the justice system works,” Passari wrote on Instagram in response to a comment of support.

News.com.au reported Tuesday that Kyrgios — the world’s No. 40 tennis player — has been charged with assaulting Passari. He is due in a Canberra, Australia, court next month.

“ACT Policing can confirm 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 Tuesday.

The common assault charge has a maximum sentence of two years in jail.

Kyrgios was asked about the allegations later in the day Tuesday, in which he cracked a bizarre joke about “The Last Dance.” Lawyer Jason Moffett has told the Canberra Times that Kyrgios takes the allegation “very seriously.”

“It’s in the context of a domestic relationship,” Moffett told Australia’s 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.”

Kyrgios and Passari began dating in July 2020 before splitting up the following October after an argument that resulted in a police visit to their Adelaide hotel. He is currently dating social media influencer Costeen Hatzi, who joined him at Wimbledon on Wednesday.