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Tennis betting: 13 players sanctioned in 2017 after Tennis Integrity Unit investigations

Posted: Jan 05, 2018

Thirteen players were sanctioned in 2017 after investigations by the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU).

Five were banned over match-fixing claims, while other cases involved low-ranked players betting on tennis.

The number of match alerts for suspicious betting patterns fell last year to 241, from 292 in 2016.

The alerts do not necessarily indicate wrongdoing but are seen as an indication that corrupt activity may have occurred.

Nine players and officials were banned in 2016. No officials were banned last year.

“There is no doubt that most players and officials conduct themselves in an exemplary fashion, but the small minority who choose to break the rules are a continuing concern,” TIU director Nigel Willerton said in its annual report.

Read the full report

The TIU said a wider interim report on corruption in tennis is due in early 2018.

It follows a report by the BBC and BuzzFeed News two years ago which claimed 16 players ranked in the world’s top 50 had been repeatedly flagged to the unit over suspicions they have thrown matches in the past decade.

Since then the budget for the TIU, set up in 2008 and funded by the sport’s governing bodies and the four Grand Slams, has been increased with $3.71m (£2,75m) being set aside for 2018.

The number of full-time staff has risen to 17 from just a handful three years ago, while a training and education unit will be established this year to help educate young players against the risks of corruption.

Player sanctions in 2017

(Career-high ranking in brackets)

Match-fixing

Alexandru-Daniel Carpen, Romanian (1,088, singles) – Lifetime ban

Konstantinos Mikos, Greek (933, singles) – Lifetime ban

Junn Mitsuhashi, Japanese (295, singles) – Lifetime ban, $50,000 fine

Nikita Kryvonos, American (389, singles) – 10-year ban, $20,000 fine

Nick Lindahl, Australian (187, singles) – Seven-year ban, $35,000 fine

Betting

Calum Puttergill, Australian (1,148, singles) – Six-month ban, $10,000 fine

Mihaita Damian, Romanian (1,439, doubles) – 12-month ban, $5,000 fine

Marius Frosa, Romanian (1,920, singles) – Eight-month ban (four months suspended), $1,000 fine

Samuel Ribeiro Navarette, Spanish (723, singles) – Eight-month ban (four months suspended), $1,000 fine

Other

Brandon Walkin, Australian (980, singles) – Passed a corrupt proposal to third party: six-month ban, suspended for six months

Piotr Gadomski, Polish (338, singles) – Breached original suspension by attending professional tennis event: 18-month suspension added to existing seven-year ban (suspended pending no further breaches)

Isaac Frost, Australian (458, singles) – Provisional suspension pending TIU investigation

Oliver Anderson, Australian (639, singles) – Provisional suspension pending TIU investigation

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Brisbane Showdown: Dimitrov vs. Kyrgios

Posted: Jan 05, 2018

Brisbane Showdown: Dimitrov vs. Kyrgios

Jan052018

Last remaining seeds meet in Brisbane semi-finals on Saturday

Grigor Dimitrov and Nick Kyrgios will meet for a third time in the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp semi-finals on Saturday.

With their incredible athleticism and shot-making capabilities, Dimitrov and Kyrgios are two of the most exciting players on the ATP World Tour and look set to produce a classic when they collide at the ATP World Tour 250 tournament in Queensland.

Reigning Nitto ATP Finals champion Grigor Dimitrov leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 2-0 after wins at the 2015 BNP Paribas Open and in the 2017 Western & Southern Open final.

ATPWorldTour.com looks back at their two previous matches.

2015 BNP Paribas Open, Second Round, Indian Wells – Dimitrov d. Kyrgios 76(2) 36 76(4)
Heading into their first meeting in the Californian desert, both players were in-form after strong starts during the Australian swing.

Their Indian Wells duel was a classic, lasting two hours and 10 minutes, featuring a number of awe-inspiring rallies including an unforgettable Hot Shot winner from then-World No. 11 Dimitrov.

Kyrgios would serve for the win at 5-4 in the decider, but a nasty fall would hamper the Australian’s movement and, after rallying to force a final set tie-break, Dimitrov would prove too solid to triumph 7-6(2), 3-6, 7-6(4).

2017 Western & Southern Open, Final, Cincinnati – Dimitrov d. Kyrgios 63 75
Two years and five months would pass before they met again, in entirely different circumstances. Dimitrov, once more ranked at No. 11 in the ATP Rankings having dropped at low at No. 40 in July 2016, had produced an ATP World Tour-best start to 2017, while Kyrgios performances at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament in Indian Wells and Miami were promising.

On U.S. soil once more, Kyrgios produced his best level again to defeat Rafael Nadal en route to his first Masters 1000 final. Dimitrov didn’t drop a set on his march to a debut Masters 1000 championship match of his own, defeating Juan Martin del Potro and John Isner along the way.

In the biggest match of both of their careers, it was Dimitrov who rose to the occasion conceding just 13 points on his serve throughout the 85-minute contest. Dimitrov held 52 of his 53 service games across the week to lift the trophy and pocket 1,000 ATP Ranking points.

On Saturday at the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp, both players come into this third encounter full of belief after navigating tricky semi-final paths.

Dimitrov will feel invincible after saving two match points down in his opening-round against John Millman and outlasting a strong performance from Kyle Edmund in the quarter-finals. Kyrgios will also be encouraged by his abilities to turn on the style, like a tap, as he did in both of his three-set wins against Matthew Ebden and Alexandr Dolgopolov.

Who knows what the next instalment of this great rivalry has to offer. Only one thing is for sure; you won’t want to miss it.

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Rafa's Back: Nadal Practises Down Under

Posted: Jan 05, 2018

Rafa’s Back: Nadal Practises Down Under

Jan052018

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Rafa's Back: World No. 1 Practises Down Under

Posted: Jan 05, 2018

Rafa’s Back: World No. 1 Practises Down Under

Jan052018

Spaniard enters 2018 after finishing year-end No. 1 for the fourth time

World No. 1 Rafael Nadal has arrived in Melbourne and commenced training on Rod Laver Arena ahead of the Australian Open, which begins on 15 January.

The Spaniard is set to begin his 2018 campaign in Melbourne after a terrific 2017 in which he not only re-gained the top spot in the ATP Rankings, but at 31 became the oldest player to finish year-end No. 1.

The left-hander also became the first player in the Open Era to win 10 titles at the same event, achieving the feat three times with victories at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters and at Roland Garros. He won six titles from 10 finals.

You May Also Like: Nadal Honoured With ATP World Tour No. 1 Trophy

Nadal, who has contested the Australian Open final in three of his past five appearances, will attempt to win his second title at the season’s first Grand Slam (also 2009).

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Qatar Open: Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares lose in doubles decider

Posted: Jan 05, 2018

Jamie Murray and his doubles partner Bruno Soares missed out on a first title of 2018 after losing in the final of the Qatar Open.

The top-seeded pair were beaten 2-6 6-7 (6-8) by second seeds Oliver Marach of Austria and Mate Vavic of Croatia.

Murray and Soares battled to find fluency in the opening set with the Brazilian struggling on his serve.

The pair tried to rally in the second set but their opponents proved too strong in the tie-break.

In the men’s singles, French wildcard Gael Monfils advanced to the final after the top seed Dominic Thiem from Austria, withdrew ahead of their semi-final with a fever.

He will face either Guido Pella of Argentina or Russian Andrey Rublev in Saturday’s decider.

Meanwhile, defending champion Katerina Siniakova beat former world number one Maria Sharapova to reach the final of the WTA Shenzhen Open in China.

The Czech player sent down 27 winners and 10 aces to triumph 6-2 3-6 6-3 and set up a meeting with world number one Simona Halep.

The Romanian top seed beat her compatriot Irina-Camelia Begu 6-1 6-4.

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Injury scare for Edmund in loss to Dimitrov

Posted: Jan 05, 2018

British number two Kyle Edmund had an injury scare as he pushed world number three Grigor Dimitrov to three sets in the quarter-finals of the Brisbane International.

The 22-year-old needed treatment after he went over on his right ankle at 4-4 in the decider.

He was able to resume but went on to lose 6-3 6-7 (3-7) 6-4.

Edmund will now have the injury assessed before 2018’s opening Grand Slam, which starts on 15 January.

With Andy Murray already out with a hip problem, Edmund is due to be the highest-ranked Briton in the men’s singles.

‘It’s an awful long way back for Murray’

He crashed to the ground with a scream after being wrong-footed by Dimitrov during a rally. After seeing Edmund’s distress, Dimitrov immediately leaped over the net and sprinted to his aid, helping the Briton to his chair.

Edmund’s ankle was taped up and he appeared reasonably comfortable on his return to the court, but the momentum had gone and two games later the match was over.

The Briton had looked solid in the opening set and had break points to go 4-3 ahead. Dimitrov saved both and in the next game the Bulgarian took advantage of a couple of errors to break for a 5-3 advantage, before serving out the set when Edmund netted a backhand.

Edmund had to save two break points in the ninth game of the second set and, encouraged, he swept through the tie-break to deservedly level the match.

The deciding set was equally close with Edmund saving two break points in his opening service game but he was unable to seal a first win in 14 attempts over a top-10 ranked player.

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Dimitrov Outlasts Edmund To Book Kyrgios Clash

Posted: Jan 05, 2018

Dimitrov Outlasts Edmund To Book Kyrgios Clash

Jan052018

World No. 3 reaches his fourth Brisbane semi-final

Defending champion Grigor Dimitrov set up a mouth-watering semi-final clash with Nick Kyrgios at the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp after defeating Great Britain’s Kyle Edmund 6-3 6-7(3) 6-4 on Friday night.

The World No. 3 moved to a 16-4 career record in the Queensland event after a hard-fought two-hour, 25-minute win over Edmund and will meet home favourite Kyrgios, who came from behind to beat Alexandr Dolgopolov 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 earlier in the day.

Dimitrov will attempt to increase his seven-match winning streak further in his semi-final against Kyrgios. The two, who last met in the 2017 Western & Southern Open final, have clashed on two previous occasions with Dimitrov winning both to lead their FedEx ATP Head2Head series.

“He can do everything pretty much out there on the court,” said Dimitrov. “I have just got to be ready all the time; simple as that. You just never know what can come from him. I think obviously he’s one of the most talented players out there; it’s without a doubt. He can serve and hit every shot. He hits the spots, the slice and is even moving better.

“So he’s definitely a challenger. He has proven himself, last year playing quite a few good matches, getting to the final we played against each other in Cincinnati. He has everything to beat anyone and he has proven that.”

You May Also Like: Talent On Tap, Kyrgios Turns It On

The first set was ultimately decided in the seventh and eighth games with both men finding themselves down, 15/40 on serve. Last year’s Nitto ATP Finals champion first managed to serve his way out of trouble at 3-3 before pouncing in the next game to establish a lead which he would close out, with an unreturned serve, in the following game for the first set.

Edmund and Dimitrov both confidently held serve in the second set, with the only break opportunity falling the way of Dimitrov in the ninth game. The 26-year-old was presented with two break points at 15/40 to serve for the match, but the World No. 50 stepped up his game with confident play including a huge forehand winner to ultimately regain control and hold serve for 5-4.

After three further service holds, a tie-break was needed and it was Edmund who would emerge with the set. Changing ends with a 4/2 lead after a Dimitrov double fault, the 22-year-old who was looking to reach his first ATP World Tour semi-final since the Erste Bank Open 500 in October 2017, managed to create three set point chances at 6/3. He only needed one, levelling the match with a rifled forehand return winner.

Hoping to keep aspirations of securing a ninth ATP World Tour title this week, Dimitrov worked his way to two early break points at 1-0 but once again Edmund produced on the big points, drawing an error from the Bulgarian and then firing down an unreturned serve before eventually levelling at 1-1.

Deep in the decider at 4-4, the match would take an unfortunate turn. Edmund, originally wrong-footed by his opponent’s forehand, fell heavily on his ankle before Dimitrov leaped over the net to rush to his rival’s aid before a lengthy medical time-out.

Dimitrov held his serve and capitalised in the following game, watching an Edmund backhand sail beyond the baseline to reach the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp semi-finals for a fourth time. Edmund, still aiming to capture his first ATP World Tour title, took the positives out of the match and his week in Queensland and will look to use his experiences moving forward in 2018.

“It was a good match,” said Edmund. “I thought I played well. He played well. We were both really into it. From my side of things personally, it was a lot of positives. A lot of stuff I’m working on that really showed against the World No. 3. It was positive, this week, against three top players.”

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Alfie Hewett: Masters and French Open champion eyes world number one spot

Posted: Jan 05, 2018

Reigning Masters and French Open wheelchair tennis champion Alfie Hewett says becoming world number one is “something he always dreamt of”.

The 20-year-old from Norwich goes into this month’s Australian Open ranked second and could go above Argentinean Gustavo Fernandez at the top.

“I’ve got nothing to lose and quite a lot to gain,” Hewett told BBC Norfolk.

“It’s sprung on me so quickly but I’m going to rise to it, try to take on the challenge and just go for it.”

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Hewett, beaten by Great Britain team-mate Gordon Reid in the 2016 Paralympics final, claimed his maiden Grand Slam title in Paris in June and won the end-of-season Masters last month.

He is fewer than 300 ranking points behind world number one Fernandez and could overtake him by the end of the Australian Open, which starts on 24 January.

“Being world number one is always something that I’ve dreamt of as a kid. Coming into the sport, being the best at it is always something I’ve had as my number one goal,” he said.

“Instead of being fearful of it I’m going to go for it and try not to shy away from the moment, because that would be a big regret of mine.”

While Hewett has his sights set on being the world’s best player, his preparation for the Grand Slam in Melbourne has not been ideal.

“I’ve struggled a little bit with a few injuries over the Christmas period, so I haven’t been able to train maybe as much as I’d hoped for,” he added.

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Australian Open 2018: Serena Williams withdraws from tournament

Posted: Jan 05, 2018

Former world number one Serena Williams has withdrawn from this month’s Australian Open in Melbourne.

The 36-year-old American last week played her first match since giving birth in September.

Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam winner and the reigning Australian Open champion, said: “Although I am super close, I’m not where I want to be.”

On Thursday, Britain’s Andy Murray pulled out of the tournament, which starts on 15 January.

William was eight weeks pregnant with daughter Olympia when she won her seventh Australian Open title in 2017.

The world number 22 said: “My coach and team always said ‘only go to tournaments when you are prepared to go all the way’.

“I can compete – but I don’t want to just compete, I want to do far better than that and to do so, I will need a little more time.

“The memory of last year’s Open is one that I will carry with me, and Olympia and I look forward to coming back again.”

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Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley said: “I’ve been in constant contact with Serena and her team and know this is why she has pushed it and pushed it until the 11th hour to make her final decision.

“Serena transcends the sport in the way she approaches all aspects of her life. It was never going to be good enough for her to just compete.”

Williams lost an exhibition contest against Jelena Ostapenko in Abu Dhabi on 30 December 2017, in her first match since giving birth in September.

It is the first time since 2011 that Williams has missed the tournament.

On Thursday, men’s world number four Kei Nishikori withdrew because of a wrist injury.

There are also doubts over the fitness of Spanish world number one Rafael Nadal and Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka, who won the title in 2014.

Serb Novak Djokovic, a six-time Australian Open champion, may also miss out with an elbow injury.

‘Another blow for the tournament’ – analysis

Russell Fuller, BBC tennis correspondent

It is less than four months since Williams gave birth. She has also got married in that time, but the way she played in an exhibition in Abu Dhabi last week gave real encouragement to those who so desperately wanted to see her defend her title.

Williams might be “super close” but she doesn’t yet think she is in championship-winning shape. There is no word yet on when she will be, but Miami in March may be a good bet.

It is another blow to a tournament which has already lost Andy Murray and can’t be sure whether Novak Djokovic or Stan Wawrinka will be fit to compete.

Craig Tiley has always been adamant all the stars would be in town, but his instinctive optimism would make him a very good economic forecaster for any government in need of a boost.

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Brazil's Bellucci receives five-month drug ban

Posted: Jan 05, 2018

2018 Australian Open
Dates: 15-28 January Venue: Melbourne Park
Coverage: Watch highlights on BBC Two, the BBC Sport website and app. Live commentary on the best matches on BBC Radio 5 live, 5 live sports extra and online.

Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci has been banned for five months for doping, but was not guilty of any “significant fault or negligence” according to the International Tennis Federation (ITF).

The 29-year-old world number 112, who reached a career-high ranking of 21 in 2010, tested positive for the banned diuretic hydrochlorothiazide.

However the ITF accepted his result was due to faulty vitamin supplements.

“I never took anything that would favour me or break the rules,” he said.

His backdated ban means he will be free to return to tennis on 1 February.

Bellucci’s suspension means he will miss the Australian Open. He would have had to advance through qualifying to make the main draw of the season-opening Grand Slam event.