“That would be exciting”. Zverev, who suffered a nosebleed in the early stages, is considered one of the most exciting players of his generation but the 18-year-old German – who is of Russian descent – was outplayed.
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“I imagine betting companies are pretty aware of everything that’s going on, and they know when they see something that’s not quite right. I’ll need to if I want to win”.
Her sister, Serena, didn’t offer many clues after her second-round win over Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday. “She’s never mentioned anything about not being here, not competing”.
Halep has now lost in the first round at the Australian Open three times in the past five years (2012, 2013, 2016). “First point, I was like, ‘Okay, I can do this.’ I just believed in myself”.
One thing for sure: the Williams sisters aren’t playing doubles, so that will be the last sighting of Venus this year.
The world number two dominated from start to finish against the youngster and eventually came through 6-1 6-2 6-3 to set up a clash with big-serving Sam Groth, now ranked 67th. And that, in turn, only increases the chances that some gambler might tempt a player to throw a match.
On the court, Murray got his tournament off to a fine start.
Andy Murray previously announced that he will exit from the Australian Open if Kim Sears will have an early delivery.
The No. 133-ranked Zhang overpowered the Romanian with 31 winners, including a forehand down the line on match point.
“Tennis is a attractive (sport)”, said Raonic, after winning his first-round match.
He said that junior and lower-level players, who were struggling to make ends meet, were most at risk. “He’s a big guy with a big, big game”, Murray said.
“It’s always great support from Michael”.
USA player Steve Johnson said a gambling sponsorship is “kind of weird” and likened it to an event he knows of in Dusseldorf where there was a tournament-sponsored drink that was placed in the player locker rooms – even though if a player drank it, he would test positive for a performance enhancer.
“Murray, 6’3” himself, knows that it can take a while for a young player to develop the type of fitness required to be an elite force on tour.
“Yeah, I’m not really pro that”, Murray said, “I think it’s a little bit hypocritical really”.
Speaking at a press conference at the Australian Open, he denounced the practice as a “crime in sport”.
Other players have also detailed approaches and according to Australian media, police are closely watching the first round of the Australian Open for suspicious results. I’m going to serve big and try to get forward and play aggressively’.
Groth is a new challenger, the pair never having met before in a competitive match, but the odds are firmly in favour of the world number two, whose thrashing of much-fancied youngster Alexander Zverev on Tuesday suggested the Scot is ready to go deep in Melbourne again.
News of the BBC’s investigation, conducted with the American website BuzzFeed, broke on the opening day of the Australian Open and has been the talk of Melbourne Park ever since.
Melbourne Park has three stadiums with retractable roofs – Rod Laver Arena, Margaret Court Arena and Hisense Arena.
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She faces a potential quarterfinal match against Maria Sharapova, which would be a rematch of the 2015 final.
