Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios escaped conviction after pleading guilty on Friday to assaulting ex-girlfriend Chiara Passari in what a Canberra court called “one stupid act”. The assault charge against the 27-year-old, currently on crutches after a knee injury forced him to withdraw from the Australian Open, was dismissed by the court.
Present at the hearing, the Wimbledon finalist admitted to having attacked Chiara Passari on January 10, 2021, pushing her to the ground after a heated argument. The latter filed a complaint ten months later, after their separation, reported lawyers. In a statement read out in court, she said she suffered severe trauma from the incident leading to significant weight loss, being bedridden day and night, unable to sleep and forming new romantic relationships.
Mental Health
The tennis player’s lawyers had previously indicated that the Wimbledon finalist would seek to have the charges dropped due to mental health issues, explaining that it was an isolated incident and not in line with his temperament.
Psychologist Sam Borenstein told the court that Kyrgios suffered from severe and recurrent depression, including thoughts of self-harm, insomnia, restlessness and feelings of guilt. According to him, the player has resorted to alcohol in particular to cope with the situation, but is now making progress in managing his mental health. “As we speak, his mental health has improved significantly,” the psychologist said.
Kyrgios “sincerely sorry”
Kyrgios issued a statement in which he wrote that he was “not in a good time” at the time, and that he had “reacted to a difficult situation in a way that I deeply regret”. “I know it wasn’t OK and I’m sincerely sorry for the hurt I caused,” he added.
Judge Beth Campbell eventually dismissed the case, saying Kyrgios had acted wrongly but the offense was not planned or premeditated and was a ‘single stupid act’ by a youngster. man trying to get out of a tense situation. Kyrgios would have pushed his ex-girlfriend when the latter prevented him from leaving his apartment in Canberra.