The Association of Tennis Professionals has launched an investigation into irregular betting patterns surrounding the recent match between Russia's Nikolai Davydenko and Argentina's Martin Vassallo Arguello at the Poland Open in Sopot.
Betfair, which has cancelled all bets on the match, alerted the ATP after noting an unlikelysequence of wagers during the second-round encounter.
Davydenko, the world No 4, had started the match at the equivalent of 1-5 on (a £5 stake on the Russian would have won just £1) but, after he had won the first set, it was possible to back him at around 4-1 against (a £1 stake would have won £4). Vassallo Arguello, the world No 87, won the second set 6-3 and was leading 2-1 in the third when Davydenko retired with a foot injury.
"Having whipped the other guy 6-2 in the first set you would have expected those odds to have shortened, but they drifted to just over 4-1 against," Robin Marks, Betfair's head of media, said yesterday. "Concerns had been voiced on our forum before the match that there was going to be something wrong."
Davydenko said he had been in pain. "I might have done even more damage by trying to finish the match."
Betfair started to take particular notice after a surprisingly large number of bets on Vassallo Arguello after his first set loss. A total of more than $7.3m was wagered on the match, more than double Betfair expected.
Davydenko, 26, is one of the game's most consistent performers and was the defending champion at Sopot. He has had a moderate year, punctuated by injury, and since Wimbledon had lost at the first hurdle in three successive tournaments.
Vassallo Arguello, 27, has never reached a singles final on the main tour. The two men had never played each other before.
Kris Dent, the ATP spokesman, said the organisation took the issue of gambling in tennis very seriously. He did not believe it was endemic but it paid to be vigilant.
