A first-round match in which 15th-seeded Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland beat Vitalia Diatchenko of Russian Federation, 6-1, 6-1, on August 30, is gaining a spotlight after a “match alert” was sent to the Tennis Integrity Unit, which enforces the sport’s anti-corruption policy.
Advertisement
The US Open first round match between Russia’s Vitalia Diatchenko and Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland is under investigation for suspicious betting patterns, it was confirmed Wednesday.
TIU clarified that irregular betting patterns isn’t a sign of match fixing.
Swiss Bacsinszky, the 15th seed, beat Russia’s world number 87 6-1 6-1. The spokesman went on: “It is important to appreciate that an alert on its own is not evidence of match-fixing”. He declined to offer specifics, but cautioned that betting alerts, such as that from FederBet, are not conclusive.
Earlier this year, the BBC and Buzzfeed jointly reported that tennis authorities had ignored repeated warnings about possible match-fixing by 16 top pro tennis players. ATP rules allow players to petition to have their rankings frozen when they enter a tournament if they have been injured and haven’t competed in a tennis event for at least six months.
“I don’t know what to say, really”, she said.
This is the second known investigation of a match at a Grand Slam tournament this year. “Under the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program, all players are considered innocent unless proven otherwise at an independent anti-corruption hearing”. A mixed-doubles match at the Australian Open also garnered a large degree of scrutiny due to line movements that were out of the ordinary. The integrity unit found no evidence of wrongdoing by any players in that case. It’s really hard to play a full match.
Advertisement
Her opponent, Bacsinszky, recently won an Olympic silver medal in doubles in Rio de Janeiro and reached the semifinals of the French Open past year. Diatchenko competed in the U.S. Open by petitioning for a protected ranking exemption.
