Tennis fans were left shocked when Camila Giorgi suddenly retired and was subsequently accused of tax fraud and theft, and the Italian has now responded to those accusations.
The 32-year-old had a solid career on the WTA Tour for several years. Her best result at a Grand Slam was reaching the 2018 Wimbledon quarterfinal, where she pushed the seven-time champion Serena Williams to three sets.
Giorgi's best moment came at the 2021 Canadian Open. The Italian secured the biggest title of her career by winning the WTA 1000 tournament, overcoming Karolina Pliskova 6-3, 7-5 in the final.
Although the 32-year-old had experienced a drop in form in the previous 12 months, fans were still surprised when Giorgi retired from tennis without an official announcement in May, eventually confirming her retirement a few days later.
However, a significant story broke about Giorgi before she confirmed her retirement. The former world No. 26 was reported to have moved to the United States to avoid a tax issue in Italy.
Further details about the story were reported a few days later. Giorgi was accused of six months' unpaid rent by the owner of a villa in Florence, which seemingly caused her to flee Italy.
The former player eventually responded to the stories in July. Giorgi denied fleeing Italy and not paying rent and taxes that she owed and said she had a lawyer who would prove her innocence against the allegations.
Those denials from Giorgi did not stop rumors from circulating about the consequences she might face. The 2018 Wimbledon quarterfinalist decided to do an interview with the Italian broadcaster Verissimo to speak about the issue.
Giorgi said the people who managed her created the problems with the tax authorities. She insisted everything was in order since those managers were replaced with new representatives.
"The problems with the tax authorities? My family did not know about them, they were created by outside people who managed me and did this as a job."
"My father did not earn a living doing this, he was just my trainer. We were never afraid, we changed the people who managed us and now we are in order."
The Italian also stated there have been misconceptions about the saga, reiterated that she never fled Italy for tax reasons, and said she never stole furniture, which is another accusation the owner of the villa in Florence made.
“I did not expect this. Many misconceptions have been created. They always put my father’s name in the middle, it is not always his fault – he has no business being here."
"We did not flee for tax reasons. I never fled, I never spoke. We did not pay the rent and we took the furniture? The house had no furniture, we brought it ourselves."
It remains to be seen whether more about this story will be revealed in the future. However, this is Giorgi's most robust and high-profile defense of herself and her family to date.