The British bookmaker, Betfair, alerted tennis corruption investigators about the unusual betting patterns for the first-round match Tuesday between 109th-ranked Wayne Odesnik of the United States and 30th-ranked Jurgen Melzer of Austria, but does not suspect any wrongdoing, spokesman Mark Davies said.
Davies said Betfair received more than six times as many wagers as it would normally receive for such a match. Melzer's odds "shortened significantly,'' Davies said, after a TV announcer noted shortly before the match that Odesnik has a thigh injury. Melzer won 6-1, 6-4, 6-2.
Betfair received about 600,000 pounds ($980,000) of wagers on the match, Davies said; the average for a first-round match at Wimbledon is less than 100,000 pounds ($163,000).
"It's being reported as potential corruption, but I don't see it that way at all,'' Davies told The Associated Press. "I doubt that there was any wrongdoing.''
Still, Betfair has reported the heavy betting to the International Tennis Federation's integrity unit.
"Because of the transparency ... we pass that info on to the Tennis Integrity Unit,'' Davies said. "Then they can make a judgment. But having heard the commentary on the match, I don't suspect that this is going to turn out to be any kind of corruption story.''
The All England Club referred all questions about the betting to the ITF, which refused to comment. The ITF's Tennis Integrity Unit never comments on an ongoing investigation.
Tennis increased the attention it pays to allegations of match-fixing and players betting on the sport since Betfair voided all wagers on a 2007 match between fourth-ranked Nikolay Davydenko and 87th-ranked Martin Vassallo Arguello after suspicious betting patterns emerged. The players were cleared by an ATP investigation.
Gasquet confirms positive test for cocaine
Sounders FC try to get healthy before Chivas match
