Nick Kyrgios’ lawyers appeared in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) magistrates court on Tuesday and sought an adjournment of the trial to prepare forensic mental health reports.
The tennis star will seek to have his assault charge dismissed on mental health grounds and have the matter dismissed under a section of the local crimes act.
According to the act, magistrates have the power to dismiss a charge if they are satisfied an accused is mentally impaired and dealing with a matter in that way would benefit the community along with the offender.
The common assault charge relates to an incident in January 2021 that was reported to ACT police in December, The Guardian reported.
The charge reportedly relates to an incident with his ex-girlfriend Chiara Passari.
The common assault charge relates to an alleged incident in January 2021 that was reported to ACT police in December.
Kyrgios’s lawyer Michael Kukulies-Smith said the tennis player’s mental health history since 2015 made the application appropriate, citing a number of public statements made by the world No.20.
In February, Kyrgios opened up on the 2019 Australian Open, saying what appeared a positive time in his life had been “one of my darkest periods”.
“I was lonely, depressed, negative, abusing alcohol, drugs, pushed away family and friends,” he wrote on Instagram at the time.
“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.”
Magistrate Glenn Theakston began discussing if Kyrgios would need to appear in person for the application hearing, but Mr Kukulies-Smith said his client wanted to attend.
The matter was stood down to arrange a date for the hearing.
