THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LONDON -- Nikolay Davydenko thinks he may have inadvertently become implicated in the sport's betting scandal by speaking too loudly to his wife in Russian during a small tournament in Poland last year.
The fourth-seeded Davydenko spoke at length about the ongoing match-fixing investigation after his 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 loss to Benjamin Becker on Tuesday -- the fifth time in seven years he has lost in the first round at Wimbledon.
Davydenko said he had done nothing wrong in Poland and was confident he would be cleared in the ATP investigation.
Betfair, an online bookmaker, voided all bets on a match between Davydenko and Argentina's Martin Vassallo Arguello in Sopot on Aug. 2 after the Russian player retired, citing a foot injury in the third set.
The betting agency said it received about 3.4 million pounds (C$6.8 million) in wagers on the match, 10 times the usual amount for a similar-level match. Most of the money was on the 87th-ranked Arguello, even after he lost the first set.
Asked for a possible explanation Tuesday, Davydenko said it was small tournament, with lots of Russian spectators and that some of them might have overheard him talking to his entourage in the stands.
"Everything was going on. I spoke in the centre court with my wife ... (in) Russian," he said. "Maybe it's possible, if I can say something, 'I don't want to play or I can retire.' ... some people can understand.
"It may be my mistake because I need to be quiet, I need to be concentrating, I need to do only my job. Not to do something, talking with anyone or something like this in the stadium."
That sort of inside information could have sparked the flood of telephone or internet betting.
But the 27-year-old Russian shrugged off concerns for the outcome of the investigation, saying he'd been denying any involvement in illegal betting for a year, the investigators had no proof of any wrongdoing and "what's happening is happening."
"I try to defend me how possible," he said. "I don't know how long I can defend me more. Maybe (until) the end of my career."
Davydenko insisted he had given investigators appointed by the ATP all the information they had asked for, including his and his wife's phone records, except for some of his brother's phone records that were not available.
He said he was comfortable about continuing to play, despite the investigation, but it had been a "bad dream."
"But not one day, (a) few months," he said.
Davydenko said he does not believe there is a match-fixing problem in the sport. He said he supports bans up to three years for anyone found guilty of serious corruption.
Leading betting agencies last year presented world tennis authorities with a dossier of matches involving irregular gambling patterns over the last five years. Of those, 45 are under investigation, including eight at Wimbledon.
The Association of Tennis Professionals, which runs men's tennis, this week formally approved a list of 15 recommendations from an independent review panel announced last month to combat potential for corruption.
The All England Club, which runs Wimbledon, is already implementing tougher restrictions on access to player locker rooms -- allowing only the player and a coach to enter -- during the tournament.
Five of the eight players who lost those Wimbledon matches were in this year's draw, which contains 18 players involved in the 45 matches under investigation.
Among the 15 recommendations of the review, players will be required to report any suspicious contact from gambling syndicates within 48 hours of being approached. Sanctions range up to life bans for players found guilty of match fixing.
Players and their families and entourages could also be banned from betting on matches.
Five players, all Italians, have been fined and suspended for betting on tennis.
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