MELBOURNE, (Reuters) – Former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic has demanded proof of the match-fixing allegations that have rocked the Australian Open, saying tennis players were being hounded as if “serial killers”.
Tennis officials have been forced onto the back foot at the season opening grand slam after media reports alleged the anti-corruption watchdog had failed to properly police the game.
A review of the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) was announced earlier yesterday by the sport’s power brokers in an effort to head off criticism that could lead to it being dragged down the same path as athletics and soccer.
Ivanisevic said statistics and numbers were not enough to prove guilt.
“There is no evidence. We are talking about algorithms and mathematics and some computer spits your name out like a serial killer and everyone is chasing you,” he told reporters on Wednesday.
“You need proof. Show me that somebody did something wrong then I will believe you.”
The reports by the BBC and Buzzfeed News in part involved using an algorithm to cross-check thousands of tennis matches with those that produced irregular betting patterns.
The reports did not identify players but said the matches had been red-flagged to tennis anti-corruption officials, who then failed to act.
Ivanisevic, however, said irregular betting patterns on matches only resulted in players being placed on a ‘maybe list’.
“Maybe I am going to have a date with Angelina Jolie,” the tall Croat added. “Maybe not.
“How can you say maybe?…Don’t give me a maybe, don’t give me the mathematics, give me proof.”
Another former Wimbledon champion, current world number two Andy Murray, said he thought the independent review would bring more transparency to the battle against corruption.
“I think in these situations I think people become sceptical when it’s sort of kept in-house a little bit,” the Briton said after reaching the semi-finals of the Australian Open.
“Getting someone independent to look into it is positive for sure.”
Tennis great Martina Navratilova, though, said the reports were ‘baloney’.
“There’s no specifics,” the 18-times grand slam singles champion said. “If any of us would have been approached it would have been ‘are you kidding me? I have a match to play, go away’.
“We are talking about players losing at a grand slam on purpose? That’s not going to happen. That’s not going to happen at the highest level.”
