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http://straightsets.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/24/online-action-alarms-betting-watchdogs/
Oh boy, that can't be good.
Who would have thought that a first-round match Tuesday between 109th-ranked Wayne Odesnik of the United States and 30th-ranked Jurgen Melzer of Austria would generate so much buzz?
Wayne OdesnikHugo Philpott/European Pressphoto Agency American Wayne Odesnik, who lost to Jurgen Melzer in the first round of Wimbledon, said he has no connection with a European online gambling site.
The Associated Press reports that the British bookmaker, Betfair.com, alerted authorities after they saw an unusual spike in action. A Betfair spokesman told the A.P. that the online gambling site saw six times the wagers it would normally see on such a match. “Betfair received about $980,000 in wagers on the match,” the A.P. reports. “The average for a first-round match at Wimbledon is less than $163,000.”
This is the second time in two weeks that bookmakers have tipped off tennis authorities and, the Independent in Britain reports, five matches from 2009 are under investigation.
Before the Melzer-Odesnik match, £365,000 was bet on Melzer winning a straight-set victory on short odds, according to the Daily Mail. That is what sounded the alarm for Betfair and the Tennis Integrity Unit: “Reporting what they termed ‘extreme’ gambles on a relatively obscure encounter, they were alerted by a dramatic hardening of the odds in favour of Melzer before and during the match.”
Betfair did not suspend wagering, but Paddy Power and Ladbrokes, two other online betting sites, did stop taking bets an hour before the match began, citing the unusual amount bet on a 3-0 result.
The Betfair spokesman, Mark Davies, said he doesn’t suspect any wrongdoing. But the serious money backing Melzer to win in straight sets was enough to prompt an investigation. The Austrian won 6-1, 6-4, 6-2.
Afterward, when asked about the suspicious betting, Odesnik said he knew nothing of it, according to the Guardian. “It’s only my second time playing here, I’m young, I’m here to play,” he said. “I’m here with my coach and friends and I would never do anything like that to jeopardise my future.”
Apparently rumors that Odesnik was injured, which were circulating online and stoked by a TV commentator, fueled some of the action. The Guardian also reports that Odesnik had been spotted the night before in a London pub (the player said he was there “for dinner”). But Odesnik also confirmed he was not fully fit. “I had a little bit of an injury in my last grass-court tournament this year,” he said.
Odesnik also said he had never been approached about fixing a match. “I know at Wimbledon they have people in betting shops but I have no control over it,” he said. “I’m from the U.S. and if they have been betting on a European site I have no connection with that at all.”
Oh boy, that can't be good.