On Monday at the Australian Open, world No. 1 Novak Djokovic confirmed that he was offered $US200,000 nearly 10 years ago to throw a first-round match in St Petersburg, but he said he rebuffed the approach and that there was no room for match-fixing in any sport – and especially not in tennis.
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Tennis’ governing bodies rejected claims they covered up or ignored evidence related to match fixing in the wake of an investigation that claimed grand slam winners were among a group of 16 players “who have repeatedly been reported for losing games when highly suspicious bets have been placed against them”. The Serb did not play in the event. “Every time I go back to Rod Laver Arena, I have these memories come back to me from the first win back in 2008, of course, some of the epic matches I’ve played on that court”. I don’t support it.
As Djokovic aims to improve upon his 2015 success this year, take a look at how Djokovic fared in Grand Slams in 2012, the last time he came off a three-Slam season.
Novak Djokovic recalled his own brush with match-fixing, as the start of the year’s first Grand Slam tournament was overshadowed by corruption allegations.
Nigel Willerton, director of integrity at TIU, has broken his silence after refusing to speak to the media in Melbourne.
ATP authorities, meanwhile, have so far denied the allegations, although those involved with the Tennis Investigative Unit, which was set up in 2007, say there is strong evidence to suggest that the allegations are, in fact, true.
Worldwide tennis was rocked with allegations of match-fixing in the professional tour, citing betting data and match reports since 2007 as sources and alleging that the sport’s top players are also involved in the scandal.
The BBC and BuzzFeed News says secret files exposed evidence of widespread suspected match-fixing at the top level of world tennis.
The report said the probe uncovered syndicates in Russian Federation and Italy making hundreds of thousands of dollars betting on matches investigators thought to be fixed.
Three of these games were at Wimbledon.
If players are suspected of corruption, he wants names.
But tennis authorities said that there is no complacency when it comes to fighting corruption.
Melbourne’s The Age newspaper said police, aware the BBC and BuzzFeed report was about to be released, had quizzed people within tennis about which first-round matches at the Australian Open might be at risk.
Kermode added he was disappointed the story had taken attention away from the tournament. “But relatively, tennis is an incredibly clean sport”. It has since sanctioned 18 people for match-fixing, including five players and one official who received lifetime bans.
Kermode also rejected suggestions the TIU was under-resourced and did not have necessary enforcement powers.
There are differences however between the case of tennis and that of athletics and football. The BuzzFeed and BBC investigation said they could be offered $50,000 or more per fix.
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Kvitova, who had to withdraw from a warmup tournament in China because of a stomach virus, said her preparation was disrupted and she was nervous ahead of the rematch with Kumkhum.
