Kyrgios said assault allegations made it ‘hard to focus’ ahead of quarter-final

Nick Kyrgios said the assault charge he is facing made it “hard to focus” ahead of his quarter-final.

It emerged on Tuesday that the Australian tennis player has been summoned to appear in a Canberra on August 2 over allegations of common assault against his ex-girlfriend Chiara Passari.

Speaking to reporters after beating Chile’s Cristian Garin in straight sets in the quarter-finals on Wednesday, Kyrgios said he had “things I want to say” but had been advised not to by his lawyer.

He said: “Obviously I have a lot of thoughts and things I want to say, you know kind of my side about it but obviously I’ve being advised by lawyers that I’m unable to say anything at this time.

“So I understand that everyone wants to kind of ask about it and all that but I can’t give you too much on that right now.”

Asked if the last 24 hours threw him off, he said: “It didn’t really affect my preparation at all. I knew I stayed true to myself and give my best performance today”, but later added that it was “hard to focus” in the lead-up to the match.

“Obviously, seeing it, you know I’m only human – obviously I read about it and obviously everyone else was asking questions,” he said.

“And it was hard. It was hard to kind of just focus on kind of the mission at hand. It was quarterfinals of Wimbledon today.

“I know deep down that you know that’s what I was prepared for,” he added.

“I know that I was going to stay true to myself and give my best performance today.”

The Australian has been marred in controversy during the tournament as he received fines for his conduct at the tournament.

The 27-year-old received a 10,000 US dollar (£8,260) punishment after he admitted spitting in the direction of a spectator who had heckled him during the