An online sports bookmaking company suspended betting on a mixed doubles match at the Australian Open Sunday, apparently over concerns of match-fixing at the Grand Slam event.
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Marco Blume, the head of sportsbook at Pinnacle Sports, said that nearly all of the money was placed on Hlavackova and Kubot to win the first round encounter – which they did, 6-0 6-3.
The Spanish pair of Arruabarrena and Marrero made 12 unforced errors for the match, compared to just four for Hlavackova and Kubot, and they won just 32 points for the match compared to 56 for their opponents.
“We saw a small number of people placing a large amount of money”, he said, adding that it was easy to detect abnormal patterns for such an obscure match. He said no players should have been identified without proof of wrongdoing.
“In context, these matches are rather small”, Blume told The New York Times.
All players identified in the newspaper report have rejected any possibility of fixing.
Former Betfair executive Scott Ferguson believes Pinnacle Sports suspended betting on a mixed doubles match at the Australian Open in a “cheap grab at free publicity” as Betfair and the tournament’s betting partner, William Hill, reported no suspicious activity on the match.
Marrero later cited a knee injury for hindering his performance in the straight-sets loss.
The Tennis Integrity Unit of the sport’s governing body has denied that there was any coverup over suspicious cases. Blume would go on to say the following: “traders “have a very high sensitivity to all incoming betting,” particularly for a doubles match that would normally attract little action”.
Tennis officials have declared that unusual betting patterns alone are not sufficient enough evidence to find players guilty of match fixing. Victoria Police was informed of the possible fix. Pinnacle Sports did this for the Arruabarrena-Marrero/Hlavackova-Kubot match, reducing the maximum bet allowed and essentially reversing the odds.
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Kubot ranks 28th in the doubles category on the men’s tour, while Hlavackova is 20th among women, according to ESPN.
