Magistrate queries ‘secrecy’ as she rejects Nick Kyrgios’ request for delay

A magistrate has said she does not understand the “case for secrecy” as she rejected Nick Kyrgios’ request for a three-month adjournment in his assault case.

The Wimbledon finalist is charged with common assault over an alleged incident in January 2021 involving his former partner Chiara Passari.

He did not appear at the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Magistrates Court on Tuesday morning, where his solicitor Michael Kukulies-Smith asked the matter be put over until November 25 on the grounds that Mr Kyrgios spends little of his time in the territory and that an application was planned.

Magistrate Louise Taylor rejected the request and took issue with the lawyer’s unwillingness to go into detail about why a delay was necessary.

“I’m not quite certain what the case for secrecy is,” she told Mr Kukulies-Smith in Canberra.

“Lots of defendants have matters they’d like the court to accommodate,” Ms Taylor added, in reference to the tennis player’s competition schedule.

The magistrate said she was not going to grant a three-month adjournment on “the basis of an application that might be made”.

Mr Kukulies-Smith acknowledged to the court the request was an “indulgence” but was not able to give further detail about the nature of the planned application, citing the “large contingent of media” which was present behind him.

The prosecution told the court they also did not support the “secrecy” surrounding Mr Kukulies-Smith’s application, which had not yet been made.

Mr Kyrgios, who an ACT Policing spokesperson said was charged with common assault in July, is understood to still be in America ahead of the US Open.

On the eve of his Canberra hearing, the world number 26 posted a video to his Instagram account showing himself on a rickshaw in New York’s Times Square holding a playbill for the comedy musical Book of Mormon.

He captioned the post “LUV NY” with an emoji of a crown.