THE SCOOP: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17

Surge in betting rocks men's game
Gimelstob: 'The system is open to be abused;' Higdon: 'There's a sleazy outside element that we're not in control of'

By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net

Will an ATP inquiry into Internet betting reveal that players, officials, trainers, coaches, agents, staffers or groupies are handing out inside information on injured players that have led to massive wagers on obscure matches?

That's doubtful, but from the looks of the huge volume of betting on three matches over the past few months, someone was trying to tip betters and there's reason for concern.

"The system is open to be abused. It's there to be taken," player Justin Gimelstob told tennisreporters.net. "It's 100 percent possible and I have my suspicions. The opportunities to take advantage are obvious. It seems easy. If it's happening, it has to rectified. If it comes out that a player did it, I hope they are punished accordingly."

Some hundreds of thousands of dollars were laid on three low-profile contests:
• A Feliciano Lopez-Jarkko Nieminen match in Long Island, where Lopez retired just two games into the second set, citing a "stomach illness" as his reason. Far more money was laid on that match than any other that day and all the money was for Nieminen.
• At Amersfoot, Netherlands, more than $100,000 was laid on the (get this) Irakli Labadze-Dennis Van Sheppingen match, with punters making huge bets on Van Sheppingen. Labadze retired down a set and one game in the second set with a foot injury.
• At Lyon, bookies suspended betting on the match between Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Fernando Vicente six hours before it was due to start after receiving bets from "marked accounts." The Spaniard had not won since June but his odds were reduced from 7-2 to odds-on favorite. Kafelnikov was dealing with a foot injury and Vicente won 6-2, 6-3.

All the players strongly denied involvement and Lopez said he would sue the Daily Telegraph. The English newspaper, which has dug deep into the story, reported that some players had been fingered.

"I think it's all bullshit. It completely tears me apart," Kafelnikov said. "Whatever people are doing, web sites or anywhere in the bookmaker's office, it's not my fault. Players have never been involved in match fixing. When I walked in the locker room, all the players looked at me like I'm the worst enemy of all time. Back in my country people look at me like I'm role model, and now they look at me like I'm the worst enemy."

Vicente added, "I don't gamble. I don't like betting. At home, they're amazed. My dad is really angry, really sad. I am not involved in this betting stuff. I beat him twice. If Kafelnikov was not good enough during the match, that's not my problem. … My mom is crying because she sees her child involved in betting [articles]."

MILES SAID THERE WAS NO TANKING IN MATCH
ATP CEO Miles said that the Kafelnikov-Vicente match was off the hook. "I can tell you somebody did take a look at that match to see whether both players were giving their best efforts. There was a conclusion on-site that Yevgeny may not have played his best, but he was giving a professional effort."

Nieminen said there was nothing strange about Lopez's retirement. "He was throwing up all day and felt horrible."

The tour said it has been monitoring the surge in Internet betting for the past couple of years.

"There's a sleazy outside element that we're not in control of," said ATP Vice President David Higdon. "We're only in control of the actions of our players and staff. We've been monitoring this for years. Gambling is a societal problem we can't do anything about."

Miles warned of severe penalties for anyone violating rules on gambling. "We've been aware for some time of rumors about some irregular betting patterns in tennis. We are doing everything we can do to collect all the information possible about what goes on in a big, decentralized cyber world. I believe there's no other step we can take at this time, other than that which has been done. I simply would pledge to the sporting world that if we get to a point where we have solid information about anything untoward happening, we will act and we will act very decisively."

A player guilty of match fixing would face a $100,000 fine, loss of prize money and a three-year suspension. The ATP has no laws that govern the actions of coaches or trainers, most of whom are not tour members.