The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) received 38 suspicious betting alerts between July and September 2021, with four such events taking place at Grand Slam tournaments.
Of the 38 alerts received though ITIA’s Memoranda of Understanding with the regulated betting industry, four were from major championships – two from Wimbledon and two from the US Open.
The ITIA acknowledged that it had received two Wimbledon alerts when it published its Q2 data, based on “possible irregular betting patterns”.
The event with the most alerts was the ATP Challenger which attracted 13. Nine came from the M25 Men’s World Tennis Tour, seven alerts were from the M15’s Tour and another two came from the W15 Women’s World Tennis Tour.
The Davis Cup, ATP World Tour 250 and the W80 Women’s World Tennis Tour had one alert apiece.
While a more complete analysis is set to come from ITIA’s annual report, the body were keen to stress that an alert is not a definite indicator of match fixing.
An ITIA statement said: “Unusual betting patterns can occur for many reasons other than match fixing – for example incorrect odds-setting; well-informed betting; player fitness, fatigue or form; playing conditions and personal circumstances.
“The number and distribution of alerts are reported quarterly. Care should be taken in drawing any conclusions about prevailing corruption across the tennis ‘pyramid’ as there are many more matches at the bottom than at the top.”
In addition to the alerts, the ITIA also handed out bans to tennis players during this time period, such as those given to Algeria’s Hichem Yasri and Peru’s Mauricio Echazu Puente.
