New betting scandal hits tennis as 45 international matches come 'under suspicion'

Suspect betting patterns have been discovered in the matches, played during the past five years.

Officials admit criminals "may be involved in seeking to subvert or corrupt some players".

An independent panel reviewing tennis's integrity did not name the suspect matches but said further investigations were needed.

With Wimbledon and the French Open weeks away, the findings are a blow to a sport which saw five Italian players banned over betting earlier this year.

Scandal: Nikolay Davydenko was embroiled in a betting scandal last year

Russian Nikolay Davydenko, 27 - one of the world's top players - was also embroiled in a betting scandal last year. He retired through injury while trailing the then world number 87 Martin Vassallo Arguello in a tournament in Poland.

Online bookmaker Betfair voided all wagers --citing "suspicious betting patterns" - after nearly £3.5million was placed on the match. Both players strongly deny any involvement.

Since then, many players have come forward to reveal outsiders have asked them to fix matches.

Gilles Elseneer, a Belgian, said he turned down more than £50,000 to lose a 2005 match at Wimbledon against Potito Starace, one of the five Italian players fined and suspended.

Another, Federico Luzzi, 28, rated number 139 in the world, was fined £25,000 and suspended for 200 days for gambling on 836 matches.

The independent International Tennis Federation panel of British former policemen Ben Gunn and Jeff Rees, who examined 73 matches from the last five years, singled out 45 suspicious ones.

Their report said: "There is strong intelligence that some players are vulnerable to corrupt approaches and there are people outside tennis who seek to corrupt those in the sport."