Wimbledon match under investigation amid suspicious betting patterns

The Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) has confirmed it is investigating a match from this summer's Wimbledon Championships to determine if it may have been fixed, after receiving an alert regarding suspicious betting patterns.

"Historically, grand slams receive very few match alerts and in keeping with that record, only two were received during the period; one at Wimbledon, the other at the US Open," the anti-corruption unit, a 'joint initiative' of the ITF, ATP, WTA and Grand Slam Boards headed by director of integrity and former Metropolitan Police detective Nigel Willerton, announced in a statement on Thursday (6 October). "Both are the subject of routine, confidential investigation by the TIU.

"During the reporting period, 35,041 professional matches were played, with the 96 alerts featuring on 0.27% of those matches. In 2015, 246 match alerts were received; the nine month total for 2016 now stands at 217."

It has not yet been publicly revealed which Wimbledon match has fallen under scrutiny. However, it was confirmed last month that the US Open tie in question is the first-round contest between Vitalia Diatchenko and Swiss 15th seed Timea Bacsinszky that was played on 30 August at Flushing Meadows.

The TIU were eager to stress in the aftermath of that leak that "there are many reasons other than corrupt activity that can explain unusual betting patterns, such as incorrect odds-setting; well-informed betting; player fitness, fatigue and form; playing conditions and personal circumstances".

They added: "There is a well-defined process for betting organisations to report match alerts to the TIU. That protocol should operate in a confidential fashion and involves the TIU using its expertise to assess every alert it receives, on its merits.

"Publicising match alerts not only departs from that process, but is premature and inevitably draws unwarranted attention to the players involved in the match. Under the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program, all players are considered innocent unless proven otherwise at an independent anti-corruption hearing."

The TIU, who received a total of 96 match alerts in the third quarter of 2016 from July to September, also reiterate that it is "important to appreciate that an alert on its own is not evidence of match-fixing" and that "every alert received is assessed and followed up as an indicator that something inappropriate may have happened". They also say that full, confidential investigations are conducted where the analysis of any given match does suggest the presence of corrupt activity.