THE ASSOCIATED PRESS LONDON -- French player Mathieu Montcourt was banned from the men's tennis circuit for two months on Friday after being found guilty of betting on matches. The No. 152-ranked Montcourt bet on matches that involved other players between June and September 2005. The ATP found no evidence that he tried to affect their outcomes. Montcourt, who has won two Challenger titles this year, will be suspended from Aug. 11 and was fined US$12,000. "The ATP's Tennis Anti-Corruption Program is clear that gambling on any form of tennis match is prohibited," ATP executive vice president Gayle David Bradshaw said in a statement. "All in our sport have a duty to uphold all those rules designed to protect the integrity of tennis and the ATP will continue to instigate disciplinary proceedings against anyone found to have committed an offence." Montcourt is the latest in a string of players to get suspended for betting on tennis, following a crackdown by the ATP to combat gambling since an online betting site voided all bets on a match involving top-five player Nikolay Davydenko last year because of suspicious gambling patterns. Doubles specialists Frantisek Cermak and Michal Mertinak were suspended last month, while five Italians have also been given similar bans. Other players have come forward to say they were approached by people trying to influence a match. Under new guidelines, players are 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 also could be banned from betting on matches.
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