[vanman]

All eyes will be on Davydenko after this loss,he wins first set 6-1 then promptly goes on to lose,even if this match hasn`t been fixed it`s not going to help the current image of tennis or that of davydenko.

[pico]

Davydenko faces betting inquiry

Davydenko retired from his match in the third set
Nikolay Davydenko will have to answer questions in connection with the gambling scandal surrounding his recent defeat by Martin Vassallo Arguello.
The world number four withdrew from the match in Poland earlier this month when losing 2-6 6-3 2-1 because of injury.

Online betting exchange Betfair reported concerns of irregular gambling patterns to tennis's governing body.

Davydenko, who denies any involvement, will be questioned by ATP investigators after the China Open next month.

The Russian, who beat Jesse Levine in the first round of the US Open on Monday, admitted the issue had become an unwelcome distraction.

"I've never gambled in my life and I don't know any guys who do," he said.

"It's difficult - it's like mentally you are tired, not physically. It would be good for me to take a rest and nobody hear nothing about me.

"It's pretty tough for me in this position now. Everybody sees I am like bad guy who is gambling. I've never done anything in my life like this.

"I need to concentrate now on tennis because I have every week a tournament.

It's not so much the amount that was bet, it's the prices at which they were bet

Betfair spokesman

"I try to say every week I don't do anything like this. I never did. How many weeks will I have to answer questions? How many months? Maybe all this year."

The 26-year-old had been struggling with a foot injury, losing his first match at three events in a row before managing a first-round victory in the tournament in Poland.

About £3.4m had been bet on his second-round match against Arguello - 10 times the amount typical for a match of this kind, distorting the market, and Betfair refused to pay out on the match.

Speaking on 3 August, Davydenko's agent Eckhard Oehms said his client was innocent of any involvement in the alleged betting scam.

"Betting is not part of his striving for titles. Nikolay won quite a few titles last year," Oehms told BBC Radio 5live.

"He's fighting hard to come to the same form this year. He still has a bit to make up in terms of Masters and Grand Slams but the betting, I can rule that out totally."

Betfair spokesman Mark Davies told BBC Radio 5live: "It's not so much the amount that was bet, it's the prices at which they were bet.

"Davydenko won the first set but during the course of winning it, his price drifted out not in. That doesn't strike us as a normal betting pattern.

"We have an understanding with the ATP that we can share information with them so that they can know exactly what bets were taking place and from who, so we'll be liaising with them.

"We have suspended payouts and we will consider what we can do in order to ensure fairness and transparency."

[vanman]

Pico i`m on about his defeat today against cillic 6-1 5-7 1-6 at the st petersburg open

[Tchocky]

Cillic was +425. Result seems pretty strange but that's tennis. Can't say whether or not Davydenko tanked the match unless I was seeing it live. This is a very bad loss for Davydenko after winning the Kremlin Cup just 2 weeks ago. What were the odds on Cillic 2-1?

[jon13009]

Hard to believe Davydenko would tank a match with all the furor over the alleged gambling issues in Tennis.

Davydenko has the hardest schedule in tennis, and I don't think he takes much time off. Perhaps he is burnt out or his injuries are affecting his play.

It might be that Davydenko's game is on the decline.

Either way, with all eyes on his tennis right now, he might just be feeling the pressure.

[new2betting]

I would never bet for Davydenko. He must be pressured by the Russian mafia

[bigboydan]

The ATP is really putting their foot down on these gambling issues.

It's possible that he could have just had a bad day, but I couldn't believe that they fined him for not playing hard in his last match.

[pico]

that just show you how powerful the russian mafia is. the mafia is not done with him yet. you can quote me on this, you'll see davydenko have a weird match in one of the grand slams, that is where the big money is. all these small ATP tournaments are small fry.

[vanman]

I may be wrong but i don`t think all books that normally put tennis prices out put out odds for davydenko match,even pinnys prices remained unchanged which for a match with a heavy favourite was very surprising.

[noyb]

i almost feel sorry for the guy, i read he got an official warning from the umpire for "lack of effort" in his game against cilic, since his play drastically worsened after he won the first set. at one point it seems he was even crying on-court after he had gotten the warning.

i mean, as far as i know, there was no suspicious betting on this match. what is this shit the umpire giving him a warning for not trying his best.

[jon13009]

Looks like Davydenko got fined $2,000 for "lack of effort" by the ATP in the Cilic match.

http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/news?slu...v=ap&type=lgns

Who knows what will happen next, and if the books will refund any bets? (doubt it.)

The fine was more of a slap in the wrist for Davydenko, but might make some take notice.

My problem is that if Davydenko was really hurt, he would have stopped playing, and that would have made all bets "no action." If Davydenko was told to throw the match for someone, playing through the match was what he had to do. Perhaps Davydenko was trying and played hurt. Who knows except Davydenko? (unless a payoff was found somewhere?)

This is an interesting problem because who is to say who is "trying" and who is not. I guess the ATP is saying - if you are hurt and going to lose the match - stop playing and nullify all bets.

I hope the books don't add a third category in the tennis betting: match defaulted by either player.

[diamond]

Looks like Davydenko got fined $2,000 for "lack of effort" by the ATP in the Cilic match.

http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/news?slu...v=ap&type=lgns

Who knows what will happen next, and if the books will refund any bets? (doubt it.)

The fine was more of a slap in the wrist for Davydenko, but might make some take notice.

My problem is that if Davydenko was really hurt, he would have stopped playing, and that would have made all bets "no action." If Davydenko was told to throw the match for someone, playing through the match was what he had to do. Perhaps Davydenko was trying and played hurt. Who knows except Davydenko? (unless a payoff was found somewhere?)

This is an interesting problem because who is to say who is "trying" and who is not. I guess the ATP is saying - if you are hurt and going to lose the match - stop playing and nullify all bets.

I hope the books don't add a third category in the tennis betting: match defaulted by either player.

Look at this video, but start it on 3.30 minutes, because before that its a lot of Russian commentators.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=0wLtfNlsoCk

[jon13009]

Diamond,

Great vid, thanks for the post.

Clealry the umpire was told to watch for this kind of thing by someone (ATP, ITF?) and acted. What Davydenko was saying was right, how can he (the umpire) determine what "lack of effort" was and Davydenko said outright - "you (the umpire) are telling me to default? (!)"

Wow.

Sill don't know what to make of it, and how players would react if they are going to be called on this thing. Looking at the score at that point 1-6 7-5 0-3 (?) makes me want to think Davydenko tried to win the 2nd set, but just said - the heck with it - in the 3rd. Happens all the time in tennis, but Davydenko was going to be made an example in this case by the umpire and the ATP.

Was he trying to throw the match? Who knows unless we see hard evidence. If he wanted to hide this thing, Davydenko is good enough to know when and where to throw a critical point away, not just simply double fault games away - that's too obvious. (or is Davidenko too lazy and stupid)

If I were Davydenko, I would have walked out of the match at that point because the umpire was calling me a cheater to my face, but perhaps Davyenko was afraid of the consequences (by the ITF, ATP....or someone else?) of defaulting.

[m3vr6]

what was the line on this match? russian mob might be involved

[diamond]

Clearly Davydenko is under investigation and receives "special treatment". Maybe he deserves it, but still he is not charged with the incident in Poland.

Anyway, everybody that knows tennis, also knows that players tank matches. But this especially happens in first round matches, where they just meet up because they have to, and then they leave the tournament. Also its alot of tanking in double matches. If Davydenko was charged with lack of efforting, referring to his double faults, then players like Coria, Dementieva would receive heavy fines They are known for alot of double faults. But its a very difficult warning to give, so I will be surprised if its used again. Im sure this was because Davy is under investigation.

[diamond]

what was the line on this match? russian mob might be involved

European odds: 1.05 or something on Davy.

[diamond]

Im more worried about the pattern in TURSUNOV (big favorite Russian) vs Pashanski (Serbian). On Betfair this was the development:

1.15 starting price... fair enough...
1.2 a break down.... very low but just about ok
1.19 a set down... not right.
1.2 for large money a set and a break down which never moved regardless of score... eh no (4.x elsewhere at this stage)
1.09 when level in 2nd set still a set down... anyone else think looks dodgy at this point?
1.05-6 when in a 'tight' 3rd set....

I taken this from another user to illustrate problem.

[jon13009]

Clearly this is saying, stay away from Russian players in non major events! (or take the dogs at your own risk.)

Fixing a match in tennis is soooooo easy due to the 1 on 1 nature of the game, and there is NO WAY to say if a player tanked the match if that player wanted to hide it. Also the mental side of top level tennis can cause a player to break down at any point in the match, and their level of play can drop unexpectedly because any number of things (eg. frustration, anger, annoyed by an umpire....) If you watched Andre Agassi play early on in his career, you could apply the "lack of effort" fine in quite a number of his matches.

Players know what the critical points and games in a match are, and only 3-4 points in the entire match can decide the outcome.

How the ATP, ITF is going to deal with the Russians in these minor level events is going to be a problem because it is becoming evident that something fishy is going on here and the rest of the world is not going to tolerate it anymore.