Nick Kyrgios says he would like to tell his side of the story about allegations that he assaulted an ex-girlfriend as he started his mental health struggle after making his way to his first Grand Slam semifinal.
Kyrgios had too much firepower for Cristian Garin, knocking out the unseeded Chilean 6-4 6-3 7-6 (7-5) in two hours 13 minutes on Wednesday – just 24 hours after his ex-girlfriend Chiara Passari was revealed to have accused him of assault.
Kyrgios broke his silence on the allegations in his post-match press conference before opening up that he once thought he would never reach the last four of a grand slam.
“There was a point where I was almost done with the sport,” he admitted.
“I was hurting myself, I had suicidal thoughts.”
“To now be a semi-finalist at Wimbledon, if you had asked someone if I could, they would have said no.
Doesn’t have the mental capacity, doesn’t have the physical capacity, doesn’t have the stamina. It’s been a rocky road to here.
“At the beginning of the year I wasn’t sure if I wanted to play a good schedule. I had lost the love, I had lost the spark.’
Kyrgios will appear before the ACT Magistrates Court on August 2 to potentially face a general charge.
“Of course I have a lot of thoughts, a lot of things I want to say, a little bit of my side about it,” he said.
“Of course I’ve been advised by my lawyers that I can’t say anything right now.
“Look, I understand everyone wants to ask a little bit about it and stuff, but I can’t tell you too much about that right now.”
Kygrios is the last Australian to be at Wimbledon after another ex-girlfriend, Ajla Tomljanovic, previously lost her match in the quarterfinals.
She claims to have never endured domestic violence during her two-year relationship with Kyrgios.
Somewhat surprised, Tomljanovic said she was not aware of Kyrgios’ “past relationship and the allegations” when questioned about her time with him between 2015 and 2017.
“It’s been a while since our relationship ended,” the 29-year-old said.
“Of course I’ve always kept my relationship very private. I’d like to keep it that way.
“I am absolutely against domestic violence. I hope it gets resolved.
“Yeah, I mean, I haven’t had that experience with him.”
Nick Kyrgios reached his first-ever Grand Slam semi-final after passing Cristian Garin. had been steamed
But after rushing past Garin – and armed with a 2-0 winning record over most likely final opponent Novak Djokovic – tennis’s self-proclaimed bad boy would finally be on the cusp of getting good.
Kyrgios must first beat Rafael Nadal in Friday’s semi-final at Center Court.
Speaking on the pitch after his win, Kyrgios said: “Another great atmosphere. I never thought I would be in the semifinals of a Grand Slam. I thought that ship had sailed – that I might have wasted that window in my career.
“I’m very happy that I was able to come here with my team and give a performance.”
People often criticize Kyrgios for not caring because he doesn’t have a coach and has never had a full-time coach in his career, but he hit back at those comments after his impressive win.
The world’s number 13 hit back at comments that he doesn’t care because he’s never had a coach
Kyrgios also revealed that there is plenty of work to do before his semi-final match
He added: ‘I don’t have a coach, I would never put that burden on anyone! Each of my team plays a very important role.
“No one knows my tennis better than I do, I’ve been playing this sport since I was seven and I’m very happy.
“I felt like I was playing on the back foot a lot. Garin is a great player. I’ve been lucky with a few breakpoints, so I’ll grab those and prepare for my next match.’
Kyrgios also revealed that there is a lot of work to be done but first he would recover with a family meal and then prepare for his semi-final.
“There’s still a lot to do, go back, daddy will cook for us as always, we’ll eat it and just relax.”