Kyrgios camp look to dismiss assault charge on mental health grounds

Nick Kyrgios's mum says it's been a 'tough year' for star

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Nick Kyrgios’ lawyers will seek to dismiss the Australian tennis player’s assault charge on mental health grounds. Currently playing in Japan, Kyrgios wasn’t required to attend Tuesday’s hearing which related to an alleged assault on a former partner. 

Kyrgios faces a maximum of two years in prison if convicted, with the alleged incident taking place in December 2021. A hearing took place in Canberra on Tuesday but the Aussie wasn’t required to attend and he remains in Tokyo for the Japan Open. 

His first match, against Tseng Chun-hsin, is scheduled to get underway on Tuesday morning. One of Kyrgios’ lawyers, Michael Kukulies-Smith, claims that they will apply to have the assault charge dismissed on mental health grounds. 

That comes after reviewing his client’s “medical history since 2015, including public disclosures of his mental health struggles”. 

The magistrates’ court has the authority to dismiss a case if the accused is deemed to be mentally impaired and there is evidence to support them being dealt with as such. Doing so would require approval from the director of public prosecutions. 

Kyrgios has previously spoken about his mental health struggles on social media but claims that the ongoing court case hasn’t been a distraction from his tennis career. Back in February, the 27-year-old addressed his struggles during the 2019 Australian Open. 

“I was lonely, depressed, negative, abusing alcohol, drugs, pushed away family and friends,” he said on Instagram. “I felt as if I couldn’t talk or trust anyone.

“This was a result of not opening up and refusing to lean on my loved ones and simply just push myself little by little to be positive.” A hearing on his lawyers’ application is due to take place on February 3. 

A stellar year on the court has seen Kyrgios shoot up to 20th in the men’s world rankings. He powered all the way to the Wimbledon final in July before losing in four sets to Novak Djokovic and he put together another solid run at the US Open last month, beating number one seed Daniil Medvedev before losing a five-set marathon to Karen Khachanov in the quarter-finals. 

Speaking in Tokyo, Kyrgios said: “[It is] not difficult at all [to focus on tennis]. There’s only so much I can control and I’m taking all the steps and dealing with that off the court.

“I can only do what I can and I’m here in Tokyo and just trying to play some good tennis, continue that momentum and just try to do my job – and that’s play tennis, play it well.”

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