Tennis star and lingerie model speaks out on claims she secretly quit sport to ‘run away’ and avoid taxes and rent owed

A FORMER tennis star has revealed why she left the sport amid claims she “ran away” due to tax evasion.

Camila Giorgi announced her retirement from the sport in May and moved to America.

https://www.instagram.com/camila_giorgi_official/

Camila Giorgi has denied running away from tax evasion claims[/caption]

https://www.instagram.com/camila_giorgi_official/

Giorgi has retired from tennis[/caption]

Getty

Her highest ranking was no.26 in the world[/caption]

AFP

She reached the quarter-final of Wimbledon in 2018[/caption]

Giorgi, 32, made her shock announcement amid claims she owed up to six months of rent at a villa in Calenzano, near Florence.

At the time it was suggested that she was trying to evade tax authorities, which she has denied.

The Italian has now been accused of fleeing from her owed rent by the disgruntled landlord of the villa.

They claim that she removed “half the furniture” from the villa, including rugs and antique tables.

The former world No.26 has now given her own version of what happened in a TV interview.

She told Canale 5’s Verissimo: “Did I suddenly disappear? That’s the version they said. 

“I didn’t disappear, I had to make an announcement in Paris about my withdrawal, then it came out on the anti-doping website that I had retired and the thing became public.

“I lived a little in Italy and a little in the United States.

“We stayed in Miami for three years.

“I would like to stay there forever, but I often return to Italy, I just don’t like to talk about what I do and it seems like I’m hiding.

Instagram @camilagiorgiofficial

Giorgi has 734k followers on Instagram[/caption]

Instagram @camilagiorgiofficial

She often shares glam pics on her social media account[/caption]

Instagram @camilagiorgiofficial

She is now living in America[/caption]

https://www.instagram.com/camila_giorgi_official/

She last competed at the Miami Open[/caption]

“Now I’m happy, I’m where I would like to be.”

Lawyer Edmondo Tomaselli has insisted that Giorgi did not “run away” and denies the allegations made by the landlord.

When asked about the furniture, Giorgi insisted that it was paid for by herself.

She added: “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.”

During Giorgi’s career, she competed in all four Grand Slams and reached the quarter-finals of Wimbledon in 2018.

In 2021, she reached the same stage of the Tokyo Olympics.

In her last appearance on the court, she was knocked out of the Miami Open by world No.1 Iga Swiatek.

She now appears to have crossed over to modelling on social media and often shares glamorous pictures of herself for her 734k followers on Instagram.