LONDON (AP) _ Tennis officials are investigating suspicious
betting patterns on a match in which top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko of
Russia retired with an injury against a low-ranked opponent at an
ATP tournament in Poland.
In an unprecedented move, British online gambling company Betfair
voided all bets Friday placed on Thursday's second-round match at
the Prokom Open in Sopot between defending champion and No. 4-ranked
Davydenko and No. 87-ranked Martin Vassallo Arguello of Argentina.
Betfair said it received about US$7 million in bets on the match
_ 10 times the usual amount _ and most of the money was on Arguello
to win, even after Davydenko won the first set 6-2.
Arguello won the second set 6-3 and was leading 2-1 in the third
when the Russian retired. Davydenko said he aggravated a left foot
injury in the second set. He received medical attention from a
tournament trainer before deciding to quit.
Betfair, which has had an agreement with the ATP since 2003 to
share information on any irregular betting activity, said it was
concerned with the volume of wagers coming in on Arguello from the
start.
``We think the market quite clearly wasn't fair,'' Betfair
managing director Mark Davies said. ``The prices seemed very odd. .
. . It seemed to us manifestly unfair, something not right in that
market.
``As a result, in the interest of fairness and integrity and in
consultation with the ATP, we have decided to void the market and
return all stakes to punters (bettors).''
It's the first time the company has taken such a step in any
sport.
Davies said Betfair would turn over its betting records for the
ATP to investigate.
``The ATP takes issues surrounding gambling extremely
seriously,'' the men's tour said in a statement. ``We are committed
to ensuring our sport remains corruption free and have strict rules
in place governing this area.
``In addition we have memorandums of understanding with U.K. and
European betting companies that ensures information pertaining to
any ATP Tour match that may look suspicious, based upon gambling
patterns, is shared with us immediately.
``It would be inappropriate for us to comment further on any
individual match or on the status of any potential investigation
until such time as the process has been completed.''
ATP officials said Friday that Davydenko had left Poland.
``Normally I try to fight to the end but it was very painful and
I may have done even more damage by trying to finish the match,''
Davydenko said Thursday after the match. ``Since the beginning of
Monday I've had a problem with my left toes. Today that became a
problem with my foot.''
Since losing in the fourth round at Wimbledon to Marcos
Baghdatis, Davydenko lost three straight first-round matches _ to
Gael Monfils at the Swiss Open, Florent Serra at the Dutch Open and
Gilles Simon at the Croatia Open _ before beating Andrei Pavel, 6-3,
6-4 in the opening round in Poland.
Arguello lost 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 on Friday in the quarter-finals to
another Argentine player, Jose Acasuso.
Davis said Betfair was particularly suspicious Thursday when bets
kept pouring in on Arguello after he dropped the first set, winning
only two games.
``Looking at those bets, why is the price starting to lengthen
before the injury appeared on court?'' he said.
Davis said it was up to the ATP to ``make judgments whether
something was amiss or not.''
The bets are electronically recorded, allowing Betfair and the
ATP to see who made the wagers and when.
``We're not making a judgment, people can read into this what
they want,'' Davis said. ``As far as we're concerned, it wasn't fair
for our customers.''
At Wimbledon in 2006, Betfair reported irregular patterns
surrounding a first-round match between British wild card Richard
Bloomfield and Carlos Berlocq of Argentina. Berlocq, who was ranked
170 places higher than Bloomfield at the time, lost 6-1, 6-2, 6-2.
Most of the bets placed were on Berlocq to lose. No wrongdoing was
ever detected, however.
