Scandal hits tennis world over match that attracted £3.5m in bets

On-line bookie Betfair has refused to settle wagers on a match involving the world number 4, Nikolay Davydenko after a pattern of suspicious bets were placed.

The Russian won the first set in the Poland Open with the lower ranked Argentinian Martin Vassallo Arguello 6-2.

But he lost the second 6-3 before withdrawing from the match with his opponent leading 2-1 in the third.

When the match was suspended £3,590,595 of bets had been placed - more than double the usual amount on a similar match.

Betfair has informed the Association of Tennis Professionals of its concerns and told them it has set up a taskforce to investigate other recent suspicious matches.

A spokesman for Betfair said they were widening their investigation. "We have an integrity and fraud team of more than 40 people," he said.

One punter who followed the match reported that tournament favourite, Davydenko's pre-match odds drifted to 2.3, equivalent to an 11-8 against - even through he was facing a player who stood 87th in the tour rankings.

He said: "Despite Davydenko winning the first set 6-2, Vassallo, an inferior player, was still favourite to win on the in-play Betfair market."

After the match in Sopot, Davydenko said he retired because of an injury. He said: "I couldn't run after the first set so I decide to withdraw. I have to recover as soon as possible."

Tennis has been the subject of growing betting problems since the first scandal broke in 2003 when the ATP asked Betfair for records involving single bets of nearly £100,000 on results with suspicious betting patterns.

In 2006, the International Tennis Federation reportedly called in a former Scotland Yard detective about an alleged betting scam at Wimbledon in the first-round match between Britain's Richard Bloomfield and Argentina's Carlos Berlocq.

There was no suggestion that either player acted improperly - but Berlocq was suffering from an injury.

Loose locker-room talk can mean it doesn't take long for word to get around that a player is carrying an injury and worth betting against - and this is what may have happened in the current controversy over Davydenko's match in Poland.

There is a fear that the betting syndicates that have left the sport alone for a while may now be back circling it once more.

The ATP has a "Memorandum of Understanding" with Betfair which allows them access to the names of those who bet. However, tracing the names of suspicious punters or syndicates through their computer addresses is one thing, linking them to players or coaches quite another.

"We all know that it goes on," a former British player once said. "I was never approached myself but I know players who were."

So concerned are the ATP about players betting on their own matches that they issued a memo to all players in 2007 warning them of the perils of match-fixing.

The memo stated: "Athletes' competitive nature and the excitement of having something on the line are some of the main reasons they are attracted to gambling."

Players and coaches at the Australian Open are required to sign releases affirming that they will not place any bets on matches.