'We did not flee for tax reasons, I never fled' - Former tennis star Camila Giorgi returns to Italy a year after leaving the country over alleged tax evasion

Camila Giorgi has been in the spotlight in the past years for the wrong reasons, most notably for tax evasion along with her father. This has led to an abrupt retirement from tennis and time away from Italy. However, she has returned to her homeland to attend the 82nd Venice International Film Festival.

Giorgi had been a respected tennis player before the controversies arose, regularly competing in Grand Slams and big tournaments. This all came to a halt after she quietly stepped away from the game to focus on lingerie modelling, which had been something the Italian was keen about before quitting the sport. There was no big news flash on her retirement, only noticed by keen-eyed fans on the nternational Tennis Integrity Agency’s list of retired players, where she was named.

Despite the WTA trying to get in touch, there was no confirmation from Girogi or her family, with her moving to the USA permanently. This unusual scenario took another turn when it was revealed that she and her father had been accussed of tax evasion between 2013-2014, along with an alleged unpaird rent on a villa in Florence. These claims she strongly denies. After a brief evacuation from Italy, she surprised many by returning to the Venice Film Festival.

In an interview with Italian chat show Verissimo, Girorgi brushed off the accusations and the move to America, claiming she was not fleeing the country. "It was not an escape. I moved to America permanently with my parents," she said.

Following on from that, she pinned the blame on the events on a lawyer who had worked with her previously. “The problems with the tax authorities? My family did not know about them," Girogi said. "They were created by outside people who managed me and did this as a job. 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 bought it ourselves.”

Girogi turned professional in 2011, and made it to her first Grand Slam at Wimbledon, losing in the first round. A year later, she would catch the eye of many by going on a run to the fourth round, knocking out two top 20 players before being overcome by the world number three and eventual runner-up Agnieszka Radwanska.

She consistently got to major events, but was unable to make much of an impact at many of them. She was in the spotlight at the 2013 US Open after defeating Caroline Wozniacki before again failing to make it past the fourth round.

She would break that barrier five years later at SW19, defeating world number 21 Anastasija Sevastova, Madison Brengle, Katerina Siniakova, and former world number eight Ekaterina Makarova ahead of a quarter-final showdown against Serena Williams. She managed to claim the first set, but failed to complete the ultimate task, and was dumped out of the event.

Whilst representing Italy at the Tokyo Olympics, she made it to the quarter-finals, one match away from competing for a medal. Unfortunately for the Italian, she was defeated by eventual bronze medalist Elina Svitolina. Shortly after, she achieved her biggest title in the sport in Montreal at the Canadian Open. She clinched the Masters 1000 event after beating the likes of Elise Mertens, Petra Kvitova, Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula, and Karolína Plískova in the final. This saw a return to the top 40, and eventually the top 30 after a fourth round run at Roland Garros.

Her last Grand Slam appearance had come at the 2024 Australian Open with a first-round exit, before mysteriously disappearing from the sport.