Hebben gokkers de tenniswereld in hun greep?

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Op woensdag 6 mei 2009 15:34 schreef de_boswachter het volgende:
Kun je dat niet wat eerder plaatsen

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A Tennis Gambler Looks for a Fix

Russian Bettor Follows Players Online, Watches Them at Hotels; Offering Money to Throw a Match

By HANNAH KARP

Four months ago in a hotel room overlooking the landscaped gardens of the luxurious Dusit Thani hotel in Pattaya City, Thailand, Dmitry Avilov sat deep in thought for several hours, he recalls, nervously composing a message in Russian to Ekaterina Bychkova, a tennis player now ranked No. 169 on the WTA Tour.

Mr. Avilov, 25, who says he makes a modest living betting almost exclusively on women's tennis, had decided, for the first time, he says, to approach a player about fixing a match.

While Ms. Bychkova refused the overture and no money ever changed hands, Mr. Avilov's story highlights a growing concern among some coaches, officials and corruption experts: that lower-ranked tennis players are easy targets, especially with the rise of social-networking sites that make it simpler for strangers to contact them.

In the U.S., tennis bets can only legally be made in person at Nevada sports books. While online betting is legal in many countries outside the U.S., including Russia, match fixing is prohibited almost everywhere. In Russia, however, the penalties are relatively light. Individual violators are subject to arrest and to a fine of up to 200,000 rubles (about $6,000).

"I feel like I can just do whatever I want," says Mr. Avilov, a father of two who lives in a one-bedroom flat in western Russia. "Professional tennis doesn't want to deal with fixes, period."

Larry Scott, chief executive of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, the chief women's international professional tennis circuit, strongly disagrees with Mr. Avilov's statement. He said there is "no indication" that a corruption issue exists in women's tennis, but that the tour is monitoring the situation and has a zero tolerance policy for violators. Mr. Scott says the WTA Tour has improved its player education program, prohibits betting at its tournament venues and closely examines matches that players take part in over and above those necessary for achieving ranking points.

In 2007, Italy's Alessio Di Mauro became the first professional tennis player to be sanctioned for gambling. He was barred from the ATP World Tour for nine months for betting on other players' matches. Also in 2008, Nikolay Davydenko, currently ranked No. 11, was cleared after a year-long investigation into a match in Poland on which 11 people wagered a total of at least $7 million that he would lose. Mr. Di Mauro admitted betting on other people's matches. Mr. Davydenko has denied any wrongdoing.

In 2008, the sport's four governing bodies took steps to address concerns raised by these incidents. The WTA Tour, the men's ATP World Tour, the International Tennis Federation and the Grand Slam Committee commissioned a report on the issue of gambling that resulted in a jointly funded "Tennis Integrity Unit" and an anti-corruption code that requires players to report overtures by gamblers.

For the 2008 report, Jeff Rees, a former London police detective with experience in sports corruption, was given access to the betting records for several dozen matches where officials from Betfair, a London-based online betting exchange that cooperates with sports officials, had seen unusual or suspicious activity. Mr. Rees, who now heads the Tennis Integrity Unit, said he found strong indications of corruption in 27 cases -- mostly ones where bettors had repeatedly made successful bets against highly favored players.

Tennis accounts for less than 2% of the total amount wagered on sports in Nevada casinos each year, according to Las Vegas Sports Consultants, but is one of the most popular betting sports internationally. Experts say the game's individual nature makes it easy for a player, acting alone, to manipulate the outcome.

Many WTA Tour players are teenagers who don't earn enough to pay for proper training or a professional coach. Nick Bollettieri, the founder of a Florida tennis academy and a coach to many top players over the years, says none of the clients he's mentored have told him they'd been asked to fix a match. But he says he suspects such offers are made more often to lower-ranked players who are "having a tough time making it financially."

Mr. Avilov, a math whiz and former economics student with a penchant for fantasy computer games, says he came of age when former Russian Federation president Boris Yeltsin promoted the sport and many of his peers took up the game in the wake of Anna Kournikova's success. He created a program that predicted tennis results based on a player's style, current form and record on each surface. After a brief stint freelancing for Betfair's Russian marketing department and a failed attempt to create his own betting exchange, Mr. Avilov says he focused on posting his tennis picks online. In 2006 he says he hooked his first investor, who, as a test, offered to pay him $15,000 if he could turn $50,000 into $100,000. Mr. Avilov says he did so in five months.

Two bettors said they have paid Mr. Avilov to place tennis bets for them and have been pleased with the returns, although they didn't offer specifics or any proof of payment. Last month, one investor -- an American from Houston -- flew in to meet Mr. Avilov at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, S.C. The investor said he'd come to pay for Mr. Avilov's hotel room and handed him $3,000 in cash. Mr. Avilov placed online bets for the investor before heading to the tournament each morning. While placing online bets is illegal under U.S. law, the authorities rarely prosecute individual bettors.

Gambler Dmitry Avilov visits a bookmakers bureau in Ufa, Russia, in March. Mr. Avilov says he stopped betting on men's tennis in 2007 when he realized he might have a bigger edge over bookmakers on the women's side. When he started attending non-televised tournaments, he found it hard to tell much from watching the men. At a tournament he attended in Prague, he says, even "weak" players like Peter Wessels, then ranked No. 530, looked good to him. He says he found it easier to size up the weaknesses of WTA Tour players, especially those ranked between Nos. 20 and 100. "In the ATP almost everyone can serve, move and return. But there are lots of girls who can't serve, or can't move -- and I always like to bet on good players against bad ones."

To gather intelligence, Mr. Avilov travels to three to six small tournaments a year to watch lower-ranked players, chat up members of their entourages and sleuth into their personal lives. "Just knowing a player better helps," he says.

Mr. Avilov says he first began to consider fixing a match during a tournament in Budapest last year. While staying at the players' hotel, he recognized Anna Lapushchenkova, a low-ranked Russian player, eating breakfast with another player. While he'd never contacted or spoken to Ms. Lapushchenkova -- and hasn't since -- he says he tried to work up the nerve to ask her if she would take money to throw a match. "I would have shared the money with her," he says. He didn't approach her and never made the offer. Ms. Lapushchenkova did not return calls seeking comment.

This winter, Mr. Avilov discovered Ms. Bychkova, another Russian player coached by her mother, kept a diary on Livejournal.com. He thought she might be interested in making some extra money -- in one blog entry she waxed poetic about a Louis Vuitton purse. In February, after registering for the site, he sent her a match-fixing proposal through a private message.

Both Mr. Avilov and Ms. Bychkova say Ms. Bychkova declined the proposal. She says she didn't tell anyone, including tennis officials, because she thought it would "sound really funny" to report someone she'd never met who contacted her through her blog. "I don't want to fix matches and will never do it," says Ms. Bychkova.

Mr. Avilov says he "definitely" intends to contact other players through online social-networking sites and if the opportunity presents itself, to ask them to fix matches. "My job is to understand these girls and to think like them," he says.

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At a tournament he attended in Prague, he says, even "weak" players like Peter Wessels, then ranked No. 530, looked good to him.

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Op maandag 15 juni 2009 10:55 schreef APK het volgende:
Hou Hernandez vs Koellerer maar even in de gaten vandaag.

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Op maandag 15 juni 2009 13:42 schreef Szura het volgende:

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Lijkt me niks bijzonders deze keer

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Op maandag 15 juni 2009 14:42 schreef stefan92 het volgende:

Waarom koos je hem dan niet in de tennisgame

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Op maandag 15 juni 2009 14:42 schreef stefan92 het volgende:
Waarom koos je hem dan niet in de tennisgame

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Op maandag 15 juni 2009 14:46 schreef Chriz2k het volgende:

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Had ik ook zeker gedaan, alleen ik zag het pas nadat ik mijn picks had doorgegeven, en dat was één minuut voordat deze wedstrijd begon .

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'Ongewone weddenschappen' op tennisduel
VERDACHTE PARTIJ IN ROSMALEN
ROSMALEN - Volgens de Britse krant The Independent volgt er een onderzoek naar het verloop van de partij tussen de Spanjaard Oscar Hernandez en de Oostenrijker Daniel Köllerer, eerder deze week tijdens de Ordina Open in Rosmalen. Er zouden 'ongewone weddenschappen' zijn afgesloten op Hernandez, die de partij in twee sets won.

De tennisvakbond ATP zou de partij hebben gemeld bij de Tennis Integrity Unit, een door de tennisautoriteiten in het leven geroepen instantie die onderzoek doet naar fraude in het professionele tennis. Volgens The Independent is de ATP een groep beroepsgokkers op het spoor, met bases in Rusland en Italië, die zich bezig houdt met omkoping.

Dinsdag werd op het tennispark in Rosmalen een Rus aangehouden die ervan wordt verdacht op de tribune via zijn laptop te hebben gegokt op tennispartijen. Dat is verboden.

Telesport.nl

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Op donderdag 18 juni 2009 15:56 schreef TheArt het volgende:
WHAHAHAHAHA
[..]

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Exclusive: Wimbledon on high alert over suspected match-fixing rings

Up to 12 players feature on official 'watch list' following betting irregularities

By Nick Harris

Thursday, 18 June 2009

Ahead of Wimbledon, which begins on Monday, the revelations add weight to growing fears within the sport and the gambling industry that major tennis tournaments are being targeted by match-fixers

Between six and 12 players due to compete in the men's singles at Wimbledon are on a "watch list" of individuals under scrutiny by the game's authorities because of past involvement in matches where suspicious betting happened and match-fixing was suspected. The revelation comes from an investigation by The Independent into corruption in tennis, and into the methods that the authorities, including the world men's governing body, the ATP, are using to stamp it out.

The Independent understands the full "watch list" includes Russians, Argentines, Italians, Spaniards and players of other nationalities, including men from inside the top 50 as well as those at the lower reaches of the game.

A senior source said: "We have interests in the activities of certain players and there are players whose matches we follow closely. It would be ludicrous to think, with so much money involved in betting, that there is no malpractice. A few of [the players being watched] aren't the ones you'd necessarily suspect while others who've had unjustified rumours trotted out about them are not of concern."

The investigation has discovered that the ATP knows the identities of a group of big-time gamblers, in Russia in particular and also in Italy, who have wagered on "suspicious" games. Details of the only time a match-fixing allegation has been aired in court have also surfaced and are revealed today, along with information on how the ATP failed to provide records that might have helped the prosecution.

The top-level source said one challenge in fighting corruption is "sifting self-perpetuating gossip from hard evidence of corruption". Another is stopping the use of "inside information" where "a privileged few profit for financial gain".

Then there is the challenge of catching "the small minority" whom the authorities believe are actively corrupt. The source said: "It's stupid to say there aren't some players tempted by what they're being offered to fix matches."

Ahead of Wimbledon, which begins on Monday, these revelations add weight to the growing fears within the sport and the gambling industry that major tennis tournaments are being targeted – successfully in some cases – by match-fixers. A wide range of gambling industry sources say there have been "ongoing concerns" about tennis.

An investigation is underway into Monday's first-round match between Spain's Oscar Hernandez and Austria's Daniel Koellerer at the Ordina Open in the Netherlands, after "unusual" bets on Hernandez, who won. The Independent can reveal a 29-year-old male Russian spectator was arrested yesterday at that tournament for gambling on a laptop courtside, which is forbidden.

The Independent has also learnt that a match in Kitzbühel, Austria, last month, was flagged up to the ATP as "of concern". There was also irregular betting on at least one match at the Monte Carlo Masters in April. France's Jean-René Lisnard's first-round win, 6-2, 6-2, over Belgium's Christophe Rochus led to non-payment of bets by some bookies.

That match was referred to the Gambling Commission (the industry watchdog), as well as to the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU), tennis's in-house crime-stopping team.

The head of the TIU is Jeff Rees, a respected detective who served in the Metropolitan Police for 32 years and who earned his reputation as a leading sports integrity expert working in cricket's anti-corruption unit. It was Rees and his fellow integrity expert, Ben Gunn, who authored tennis's Environmental Review of Integrity in Professional Tennis, published in May last year, which recommended the formation of the TIU.

The Independent put its findings to the man at the top of men's tennis, Adam Helfant, the ATP's executive chairman and president. In response, the ATP released a statement: "Since January 2008 the ATP, Grand Slams, ITF and Sony Ericsson WTA Tour have had a Tennis Integrity Unit led by Jeff Rees. All related matters are dealt with by his unit and we don't intend to comment on any allegations or media stories."

The Independent put a series of questions to Rees about tennis integrity and TIU's work to which he declined to comment.

Those questions included asking what has happened to investigations into 45 matches that Rees's Review said, almost 14 months ago, had caused "specific concerns from a betting perspective". The Independent has been told by an impeccable source: "The findings might never be made public."

The May 2008 Review said tennis's authorities knew about suspicious betting activity by 27 Betfair account holders in two countries. The Independent can reveal today those countries were Russia and Italy, and that three Russia-based account holders in particular placed enormous sums on the infamous match between Russia's Nikolay Davydenko and Argentina's Martin Vassallo Arguello in Sopot, Poland, in August 2007.

Betfair alone took more than $7m in bets (£3.4m) on that match, or 10 times normal levels. Davydenko was No 5 in the world and should have been hot favourite against Arguello, then No 87.

But Davydenko was the underdog on Betfair, and despite that, one Russian Betfair customer, "Djults", wagered $540,942 on Arguello before the match, and then more when Davydenko was one set ahead.

A second customer, "Sgenia", bet $368,036 on Arguello to win, even when he was a set down. The gamblers were behaving as if certain that Arguello, even while losing, would win.

A third customer, "Ruster", had held a Betfair account since 2005 and had averaged $800 per bet until that match. Then he bet $253,833 at odds as short as 1-11 on Arguello. Davydenko subsequently retired, injured, in the third set, making Arguello the winner. Betfair took the unprecedented step of voiding the market.

Both players have always denied any wrongdoing. Contrary to popular belief, nobody was ever charged with any misdemeanour. An ATP investigation, which failed to gain access to some phone records, concluded last September with a carefully worded statement that said: "The ATP has now exhausted all avenues of enquiry open to it."

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Op donderdag 18 juni 2009 16:29 schreef de_boswachter het volgende:
Zijn dat beiden "bekende" fixers dan ?

En waarom is die Koelerrer in het circuit zo niet-populair ?

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Op donderdag 18 juni 2009 16:48 schreef Oksel het volgende:
Goed, samengevat:

Spelers die een rang hebben onder de 50.. laten zich omkopen om te verliezen, van een nog slechtere speler. Omdat de bookies / websites ervan uit gaan dat de nr 50 van de nr 400 wint, kun je geld verdienen door de nr 50 om te kopen, en hem te laten verliezen.

En hier op Fok! hebben we het door en gaan we gokken op de nr. 400. Zoiets?

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Op donderdag 18 juni 2009 16:29 schreef de_boswachter het volgende:
Zijn dat beiden "bekende" fixers dan ?

En waarom is die Koelerrer in het circuit zo niet-populair ?

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Wie is de grootste kl..tz.k van het atp-circuit??

De mening van de spelers is unaniem daarover. Die prijs gaat met grootste onderscheiding naar Daniel Koellerer uit Oostenrijk. Dat was mijn tegenstander in de eerste ronde. Hij ‘is de grootste smeerlap van het circuit. Hij doet altijd uiterst vervelend in zijn matchen, en iedereen moet eraan geloven, iedereen krijgt de volle laag scheldwoorden : de tegenstanders, de arbiters, lijnrechters, ballenrappers, de toernooileiding. Hij krijgt bij iedere match waarschuwingen, boetes, e.d. Hij tovert vanalles uit zijn hoed om zijn tegenstanders het leven meer dan zuur te maken. Hij kan zich ook geen coach permitteren, omdat na de boetes (die rechtstreeks van het prijzengeld afgehouden worden), er maar bitter weinig overschiet. Veel hersenen heeft hij niet, vrienden nog veel minder! In het laatste jaar heeft hij al twee maal slaag gekregen van spelers! De laatste maal was toen Luzzi, een italiaan, hem na de match, op weg naar de kleedkamers hem een ‘toek’ op zijn bakkes heeft gegeven. Bij deze schermutselingen hebben beide spelers 2 maanden schorsing opgelopen. In de kleedkamers hoor ik wel af en toe dat koellerer eigenlijk vaker op zijn smoel zou moeten krijgen, en dat dat de enige manier is dat hij zijn slechte gewoontes zou afleren. Ik ga daar mee volledig akkoord. Iedereen kwam dan ook voor mij supporteren, spelers, toeschouwers, zelfs arbiters, dat was grappig. Zelfs de Oostenrijkers, zijn eigen landgenoten ! supporterden voor me!

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Op donderdag 18 juni 2009 20:52 schreef de_boswachter het volgende:
Luzzi is toch die overleden jongen, niet?

Wat een zak zeg die Koelerrer, wist ik niet. Typisch geval van teveel eigendunk en te weinig eigen kennis . Ws. vroeger altijd en akles gewonnen, verwend, rijke ouders etc.

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Op donderdag 18 juni 2009 20:55 schreef Tim86 het volgende:

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Internationaal heeft hij nooit bekend gestaan als een talent in ieder geval..Het is gewoon echt een freak.
[ afbeelding ]
Check dit: http://www.tennisactueel.nl/Artikel.aspx?ArticleId=9

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Op donderdag 18 juni 2009 19:34 schreef I.R.Baboon het volgende:

[..]

Dick weet antwoord:
[..]

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Op donderdag 18 juni 2009 21:17 schreef de_boswachter het volgende:
Had Hernandez niks te zeggen deze week?? Schudde e wel de hand vandie mafketel na afloop???

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Op donderdag 18 juni 2009 19:18 schreef Tim86 het volgende:

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Overigens is het voorbeeld wat jij geeft er slechts een van velen. Zo heb je de fix als bovenstaande, maar bijvoorbeeld ook fixes waarbij iemand na een eerste set moet opgeven of waarbij iemand een set en een break voor moet komen en erna moet verliezen, waarbij dus 2 spelers betrokken zijn en niet eentje.

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Op donderdag 18 juni 2009 22:24 schreef Tim86 het volgende:

En WH heeft dus nog niet uitbetaald bij die wedstrijden zoals ik het begrepen heb..ben benieuwd hoe dat gaat aflopen..

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Op donderdag 18 juni 2009 23:41 schreef APK het volgende:

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Ik denk dat ze na een paar maanden gewoon uitbetalen, ze laten mensen die op dit soort matches wedden even zweten.

Als de ATP niets doet moeten ze wel dokken.

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Christophe Rochus en anderen genoemd in gokaffaire

19/06 De Britse krant The Independent schreef gisteren dat tussen zes en twaalf spelers op de hoofdtabel van Wimbledon in de gaten gehouden worden voor het fiksen van wedstrijden. Op de lijst zouden Russen, Italianen, Argentijnen en Spanjaarden voorkomen, maar de krant verwijst ook naar vreemd gokgedrag in een match van Christophe Rochus.

De tennisbonden onderzoeken verschillende wedstrijden waarop verdacht veel gegokt werd. Dat was maandag nog het geval bij de match tussen de Oostenrijker Koellerer en de Spanjaard Hernandez in Rosmalen. Daar werd zelfs een 29-jarige Rus opgepakt die met de laptop langs de baan zat te gokken.

Sterker nog: bookmakers hebben niets uitbetaald na de match tussen Christophe Rochus en de Monegask Jean- René Lisnard op het tornooi van Monaco van dit voorjaar. Die match eindigde op 6-2, 6-2 in het voordeel van de Monegask. Dat was een vreemd resultaat, want Lisnard stond 200 plaatsen lager geklasseerd dan Rochus. Maar in tennis kan alles: daags nadien won diezelfde Lisnard ook nog eens van Andy Murray.

De Internationale Tennisfederatie ITF heeft een cel opgericht die het regelen van wedstrijden moet voorkomen. Maar zoals gewoonlijk in het rijke, maar heel gesloten tennismilieu, wilde de ITF geen commentaar kwijt over de recnte feiten.

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Op donderdag 18 juni 2009 23:42 schreef jmac het volgende:

Rochus is ook gewoon niet uitbetaald.

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Op dinsdag 23 juni 2009 12:46 schreef Chriz2k het volgende:
Melzer to win 3-0.

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Op dinsdag 23 juni 2009 12:46 schreef Chriz2k het volgende:
Melzer to win 3-0.

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Op dinsdag 23 juni 2009 16:44 schreef TheVulture het volgende:
Waarom is die Melzer-partij gefixt? Die Odesnik is nou niet bepaald een toptalent wel?

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Op dinsdag 23 juni 2009 16:44 schreef TheVulture het volgende:

Waarom is die Melzer-partij gefixt? Die Odesnik is nou niet bepaald een toptalent wel?

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Op dinsdag 23 juni 2009 16:46 schreef Wopper1 het volgende:

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Waarschijnlijk heeft Melzer er niks mee te maken maar is het Odesnik die zichzelf verkoopt voor een 0-3 verlies.

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Op dinsdag 14 juli 2009 10:54 schreef Wopper1 het volgende:
[ afbeelding ]

Vanmiddag in Stuttgart.....

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Op dinsdag 14 juli 2009 10:59 schreef de_boswachter het volgende:

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WTF

Die Hernandez.... Die zit er toch heel vaak bij of niet

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Op dinsdag 14 juli 2009 11:00 schreef Wopper1 het volgende:

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Ja, maar dit moet in goed overleg zijn gegaan. Hernandez weet dat hij wint, en Tipsarevic zal zelf moeten verliezen. Zijn gewoon allebei onwijs domme spelers.

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Op dinsdag 14 juli 2009 11:00 schreef Wopper1 het volgende:

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Ja, maar dit moet in goed overleg zijn gegaan. Hernandez weet dat hij wint, en Tipsarevic zal zelf moeten verliezen. Zijn gewoon allebei onwijs domme spelers.