Wimbeldon has been rocked by a potential match-fixing scandal, with an investigation being opened into a men's doubles first round match.
Spanish tennis players David Marrero, left, and Fernando Verdasco. Photo: Photosport
A report in the New York Times confirmed the match, in which Argentina's Leonardo Mayer and Portugal's Joao Sousa.
beat the Spanish pairing of Fernando Verdasco and David Marrero in four sets, was the subject of possible suspicious betting behaviour.
The Times, following the first reports of the incident by ABC News, were told by Pinnacle Sports that the online gaming website had picked up a series of bets on the match from "accounts with a history of wagers on suspicious matches".
"We followed our strict protocol when it comes [to] match-fixing alerts by notifying the authorities on site at Wimbledon and reducing our market offering immediately," Pinnacle manager Sam Gomersall was quoted as saying by ABC News.
The match was played on Friday last week (NZ time) and the bets in question were placed an hour before the match.
Marrero said he had been surprised to learn a match he had played in was being investigated.
"I was at home packing my suitcase because tomorrow, Friday, I'm heading to Germany, and this news caught me by surprise," he told EFE.
"I had no idea. What do want me to say? Just like always, go ahead and investigate because I'm very much at ease."
Ranked No 54 in doubles, with a career-high doubles ranking of No 5, Marrero has been the subject of a previous match-fixing investigation.
Marrero, playing partner Lara Arruabarrena and opponents Lukasz Kubot and Andrea Hlavackova were cleared by the Tennis Integrity Unit after their mixed doubles clash at the 2016 Australian Open was looked into after irregular betting patterns were noticed.
Marrero's playing partner Verdasco is more well known as a singles player, having reached the semifinals at the 2009 Australian Open and a career high ranking of No 7.
He is ranked 84th in doubles, with a career high of No 8.
- RNZ
