Camila Giorgi makes shock re-emergence in Italy after 'fleeing over alleged tax evasion'

Former Olympic Games quarter-finalist Camila Giorgi has returned to Italy after the ex-tennis star was accused of tax evasion. Giorgi, 33, was a surprise attendee at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival over the weekend, sporting an eye-catching, sleeveless white-sequined dress.

Last year, the former World No. 26 quietly retired from tennis to focus on her career in lingerie modelling, which was initially a side hustle to her time on the court. Her departure from the sport was mysterious, as it was only noticed when fans found she had been listed on the International Tennis Integrity Agency’s list of retired players. The situation grew stranger when reports from Italy claimed the WTA had not been able to contact Giorgi or anybody within her family and social circle to confirm her retirement. Her exit from the sport and move to the USA also coincided with allegations of tax evasion and alleged unpaid rent on a villa in Florence, claims which she strongly denies. A few months after addressing and ridiculing those accusations, Giorgi was seen back in Italy, taking in the Venice Film Festival.

She was there for the premiere of 'The Smashing Machine', a film featuring Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson which chronicles the life of former MMA fighter Mark Kerr. Her appearance back in her home country came as a surprise to many fans who are aware of the accusations against her, despite her lawyers Federico Marini and Cristian Carmelo Nicotra previously insisting she would be returning.

In an interview with Italian chat show Verissimo, Giorgi laughed at suggesions she owed up to six months worth of rent for a villa she lived in. When asked if she left Italy and moved to the USA to escape these accusations, she said: "It was not an escape. I moved to America permanently with my parents."

Addressing her retirement, she also said it was coincidental her decision to walk away from tennis was made just as an investigation into her finances by the Guardia di Finanza, an Italian law enforcement agency which deals with financial crime, was concluded.

She insists the tax evasion allegations were down to a lawyer who had worked with her before. Giorgi said: “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. We did not flee for tax reasons. I never fled, I never spoke."

When pushed on the insinuation she had either refused to pay rent or witheld payments, she sarcastically replied: "We did not pay the rent and we took the furniture? The house had no furniture, we bought it ourselves.”

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At the start of the year, Giorgi found work in tennis media, carrying out interviews with players while at the ATP 250 event in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in February. In November of last year, she also said she had been living in South American and was in a relationship with Argentine politician Ramiro Marra, saying it was "love at first sight" on her social media page.

As a player, her most memorable displays in Grand Slams were her runs to the last 16 of the 2013 US Open as well as her journey to the quarter-finals of Wimbledon in 2018. She was also one round away from competing for a medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics when she got all the way to the quarters while representing Italy.