ATP boss promises aggressive betting probe

　　ATP chairman vows to use 'all means available' in betting probe

　　By HOWARD FENDRICH, AP Tennis Writer

　　August 4, 2007

　　AP - Aug 3, 7:01 pm EDT

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　　Underlining the importance of protecting tennis' "appeal and integrity," the head of the men's professional tour promised Saturday to use "all means available" for an investigation into suspicious betting on a match involving No. 4-ranked Nikolay Davydenko.

　　Etienne de Villiers, the ATP's executive chairman, said in an e-mail to The Associated Press that "independent, external resources" would be used to look into why a British online gambling company received about $7 million in wagers on the match, 10 times the usual amount.

　　Most of the money was on No. 87 Martin Vassallo Arguello of Argentina to win -- and some of those bets were placed after he lost the first set to Davydenko, a semifinalist at the French Open twice and at the U.S. Open last year.

　　The gambling company, Betfair, voided all bets on the second-round match on clay at Sopot, Poland. Davydenko wound up winning the second set, then retiring in the third with a left toe injury.

　　"It is important that we not jump to conclusions, especially when players' reputations could be unfairly tainted," de Villiers said. "What we must do is carry out a comprehensive and immediate investigation, and that is what we are doing."

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　　Davydenko's agent, Eckhard Oehms, told the AP the Russian was "flabbergasted" when told about the suspicious betting.

　　"Neither Nikolay nor his coach nor me nor anybody out of our entourage has been involved in this," Oehms said in a telephone interview. "This is a matter that is important to us. We can't have his reputation" sullied.

　　Oehms said Davydenko flew Friday to Germany, where he received treatment on his foot in Cologne. He's to play in next week's tournament at Montreal.

　　The case is not the first of its kind in tennis, which has had at least two other instances of seemingly irregular betting in recent years -- although no wrongdoing was found either time. It also comes in the wake of another gambling investigation: The FBI is looking into whether former NBA referee Tim Donaghy bet on games, including some he officiated. And European soccer had match-fixing scandals in recent years.

　　"All professional sport needs a level playing field in order to maintain its appeal and integrity. This is especially true for tennis, which is a one-on-one gladiatorial contest," de Villiers said. "The ATP, and all involved with tennis, therefore treat any form of corruption extraordinarily seriously."

　　ATP rules say players and their "support personnel" can't bet on any amateur or professional tennis matches. They also are not allowed to, "directly or indirectly, solicit, induce, entice, persuade, encourage or facilitate any other person to wager on the outcome or any other aspect of any event."

　　Under the ATP's anti-corruption system set up in 2003, players can be fined $100,000 and be barred permanently from playing in tour events. No player has been sanctioned under that program, ATP spokesman Kris Dent said.

　　Since 2003, the ATP has an arrangement with Betfair and the European Sports Security Association, which covers 10 online gambling companies, to get information on what are believed to be irregular patterns of gambling.

　　That year, betting was suspended hours before a match in Lyon, France, between former No. 1 Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia and Fernando Vicente of Spain after a big wager was put on Vicente, who had lost 12 matches in a row. Vicente beat Kafelnikov in straight sets.

　　During Wimbledon last year, Betfair reported irregular wagering on a first-round match between wild card Richard Bloomfield of Britain and Carlos Berlocq of Argentina. Berlocq was ranked 170 places higher, but most bets were on him to lose -- and he did, in straight sets. The International Tennis Federation, which oversees Grand Slam tournaments, investigated but found nothing illicit.

　　"We are opposed to any kind of gambling by players. Obviously, this is a very serious -- but as yet unproven -- allegation," ITF executive vice president Juan Margets said, when asked about the current case. "If there's anything we could do to help the ATP find out the truth, we would."

　　Associated Press Writer Ryan Lucas in Warsaw, Poland, contributed to this report.