BRUSSELS, Belgium -- Major online gambling companies successfully fended off a legal challenge from French Open organizers who wanted to stop them from offering bets on their Grand Slam tournament.
A Liege court ruled Tuesday that betting companies like bwin did not violate the rights of the French tennis federation by offering such bets on Roland Garros matches.
The federation had said that online betting stained the reputation of the clay-court championship, especially in the wake of Internet gambling scandals.
The French federation sued three companies in Liege -- Betfair, bwin and Ladbrokes -- with a court injunction to stop them from taking bets on the French Open.
In a statement, the European Gaming & Betting Association said the court had concluded "these operators had behaved in a prudent and diligent manner."
"EU-licensed bookmakers are professionals that have a high level of expertise, know-how and risk management skills. This has been clearly recognized by the Belgian judge looking at the fact-based evidence to dismiss all the claims in this case," said EGBA secretary general Sigrid Ligne.
It was still unclear what action, if any, the French tennis federation would take. It said the betting companies were unfairly using the tournament as a way of making money.
They claimed that if a match-fixing scandal hit the French Open, it would undermine the value of the tournament, which had 2007 revenues of 118 million euros (C$184 million) and attracted 450,000 fans to Roland Garros and a potential three billion viewers worldwide.
Vienna-based bwin said it had to use the name of Roland Garros as an essential selling point to consumers, and the court agreed.
"The judge also considered that the 'simple mention of the name of a sports event is a necessary indication for the online betting activity' which therefore 'cannot be considered as an act of parasitism since its sole purpose is to let the player identify which sport event to place a bet on'," the EGBA statement said.
Along with soccer and horse racing, tennis is among the most popular sports for bettors.
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Gonzalez advances at BMW Open; Kohlschreiber pulls out due to illness
MUNICH, Germany -- Second-seeded Fernando Gonzalez of Chile cruised into the second round of the BMW Open by beating Dudi Sela of Israel 6-3, 6-4 on Tuesday.
Fourth-seeded Igor Andreev of Russia also advanced, beating Gael Monfils of France 6-3, 6-4.
But defending champion Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany pulled out after falling ill shortly before his opening match.
Kohlschreiber, seeded third, dropped out with the flu, tournament director Patrik Kuehnen said.
His place in the main draw was taken by Julio Silva of Brazil, who beat German wild card Matthias Bachinger 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Tuesday's schedule was delayed by rain with several matches postponed until Wednesday.
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Zvonareva, Srebotnik advance to second round at Prague Open
PRAGUE, Czech Republic -- Top-seeded Vera Zvonareva beat Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic 6-2, 6-3 in the first round of the Prague Open on Tuesday.
The 13th-ranked Russian will now play Slovakian wild card Magdalena Rybarikova, who defeated Meghann Shaughnessy of the United States 6-1, 6-3.
Jill Craybas of the United States upset fifth-seeded Karin Knapp of Italy 6-4, 6-2, and Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan knocked out sixth-seeded Michaella Krajicek of the Netherlands 6-4, 6-3.
Czech wild card Karolina Pliskova beat Australian qualifier Alicia Molik 6-4, 6-4 for her first victory on the WTA Tour. The 16-year-old Pliskova will now meet eighth-seeded Kaia Kanepi of Estonia.
Also, fourth-seeded Katarina Srebotnik of Croatia routed Yvonne Meusburger of Austria 6-0, 6-0 and will next face Hungarian qualifier Melinda Czink, who thrashed Croatian qualifier Jelena Pandzic 6-0, 6-2.
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Nalbandian rallies to defeat Calleri and advance to round of 16 at Barcelona Open
BARCELONA, Spain -- Third-seeded David Nalbandian rallied to defeat Agustin Calleri 1-6, 7-6 (2), 6-3 in an all-Argentine matchup in the second round of the Barcelona Open on Tuesday.
Nalbandian won only 14 points in the first set, then squandered a 4-1 lead in the second in which Calleri forced a tiebreaker. Nalbandian cruised through that and was comfortable the rest of the way.
Nalbandian improved to 15-2 on clay this year, having won in Buenos Aires and reached the final at Acapulco.
Also through to the third round were wild card Mario Ancic of Croatia and Nicolas Lapentii of Ecuador, who posted his 300th career win.
Ancic knocked out seventh-seeded Andy Murray of Britain 6-4, 6-4 and Lapentti edged qualifier Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain 6-3, 6-7 (5), 7-5.
Spain's Nicolas Almagro, a winner of two of three finals this year, won his first-round match when Viktor Troicki of Serbia withdrew with a back injury while trailing 6-2.
Jose Acasuso of Argentina was down 5-2 to 16th-seeded Feliciano Lopez of Spain when he stopped with an ill stomach, and Ernest Gulbis of Estonia advanced when Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia retired with an ankle injury while trailing 6-4, 4-2. Russian qualifier Mikhail Kukushkin posted his first victory on the ATP tour when he upset Jarkko Nieminen of Finland 6-4, 6-4.
Rafael Nadal of Spain, the defending three-time champion who won a fourth straight Monte Carlo Masters title last week, opens against Potito Starace of Italy on Wednesday.
Starace beat Peter Luczak of Australia 7-6 (4), 6-1 on Tuesday.
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