Tennis star Nick Kyrgios admits assaulting ex-girlfriend but avoids conviction

CANBERRA: Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios admitted assaulting his ex-girlfriend in 2021 and has had assault charges dismissed by the magistrate. Kyrgios appeared in front of ACT magistrates court on Friday and pled guilty after his lawyers failed to have the charge dismissed on mental health grounds.

The magistrate Beth Campbell dismissed the charges, accepting the seriousness of the matter was a "low-level" and called the incident "a single act of stupidity or frustration".

The Australian player was charged with a late-night incident on January 10, 2021, where he pushed over his ex-girlfriend Chiara Passari following an argument outside her apartment in the inner-city Canberra suburb of Kingston.

Passari reported the incident to the police the next month but did not make a formal complaint. The couple reconciled and resumed a relationship, but after they broke up, Passari made a formal complaint in December 2021.

After pleading guilty to the charges, Kyrgios issued a statement, "I respect today's ruling and I am grateful to the court for dismissing the charges without conviction," he wrote in an Instagram story."

"I was not in a good place when this happened and I reacted to a difficult situation in a way I deeply regret. I know it wasn't OK and I am sincerely sorry for the hurt I caused.

"Mental health is tough. Life can seem overwhelming. But I have found that getting help and working on myself has allowed me to feel better," the statement further read.

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