A former professional tennis player from Uruguay was arrested in the city of Doral, in Miami-Dade County, after being involved in a violent altercation at a sporting goods store that was recorded on video and went viral on social media, according to local news.
The protagonist of the incident is Nicolás Xiviller Pardodeir, 27 years old, identified by the Doral Police as the man shown in the security footage and in videos recorded by employees of the establishment.
The incident at Tennis Plaza
The episode took place on the afternoon of last Friday at Tennis Plaza, located at 2600 Northwest 87th Avenue, inside the Westend Doral Mall.
According to the authorities, Xiviller Pardodeir deliberately damaged two tennis rackets inside the establishment, with a combined value of 568 dollars.
The images also show the suspect hitting the main door of the establishment before the employees asked him to leave.
It was at that moment when, according to the police report, the former athlete threatened the staff before leaving the establishment.
Employees of the store described the suspect as "visibly agitated in his behavior" , according to statements made to the press.
The arrest at a gas station
After receiving the incident report, Doral Police officers responded to Tennis Plaza and assessed the damages.
That same night, the officers located the suspect at a gas station near the establishment and proceeded to arrest him.
The police reported that the former tennis player is facing four formal charges:
- Aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
- Assault.
- Criminal damages amounting to more than $200 and less than $1,000.
- Disruption of public order within an establishment.
The total bond set amounts to $5,900, with the most serious charge - aggravated assault with a deadly weapon - accounting for the majority, which has a bond of $5,000.
Who is Nicolás Xiviller Pardodeir?
On his social media, Xiviller Pardodeir introduces himself as a former player of the professional ATP circuit, a professional padel player, and a coach in both disciplines.
His appearances in the ATP rankings were recorded in singles and doubles during 2017 and 2018, with positions around the 1,100 mark in singles.
According to his professional profile, he competed in the Pro Padel League from March 2023 to January 2024, and served as the high-performance tennis director at the Riviera Tennis Center from 2021 to 2023.
Telemundo 51 ranks him in the seventh place in the men's ranking of the United States Padel Association, according to the current classification as of July 22, 2026.
The incident is not the first of its kind involving a Latin American athlete with a public profile in the Miami-Dade area.
In April 2026, Cuban boxer Frank Zaldívar was arrested in Miami for aggravated assault, and in 2023, former Cuban volleyball player Yuniesky Ramírez Martínez was detained for sexual offenses.
The investigation is still ongoing, and the authorities have not disclosed any details regarding what may have motivated the suspect's behavior.
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