A match involving former top 20 player Alexandr Dolgopolov is under investigation by the Tennis Integrity Unit after the organisation were notified of suspicious betting patterns.
28-year-old Dolgopolov lost 6-3, 6-3, to Brazil’s Thiago Monteiro in the first round of the Winston Salem Open earlier this week. Shortly before the start of the match, betting analysts identified a sudden change in odds. Sportdw.com highlighted that 15 minutes before the start, Dolgopolov could have been backed at a price of 3.15, implying a 31.7% chance of winning. On Saturday the Ukrainian was a 1.36 favourite, indicating there he had a 73.5% chance of winning.
“The Tennis Integrity Unit was made aware of concerns over betting patterns during the match between Alexandr Dolgopolov and Thiago Monteiro at the ATP World Tour event in Winston-Salem, USA, yesterday (Sunday, August 20),” read the TIU statement.
“As with all match alerts, the TIU will assess, make a judgement and take appropriate action on the information received through its co-operative agreements with betting operators.”
Dolgopolov’s price on Betfair… pic.twitter.com/nZbiFcQXDc
— jimmy soixante-dix (@hotdog6969) 20 August 2017
During the match, Dolgopolov failed to get a single break. In the past two seasons, the only other player he has failed to get a break point against was Roger Federer. Furthermore, there was a significant difference in first and second service rates of 86% against 45%. Dolgopolov is currently ranked 51 places lower than Monterio in the rankings.
Gambling websites Bet365, Betfair and Pinnacle all suspended betting on the match due to irregularities. Bet365 removed betting on the first set of the match over a lack of trust.
Irregular betting patterns are not always due to deliberate match-fixing. Other factors such as injury, illness and conditions can also have an impact on the odds. Dolgopolov was wearing strapping on his ankle, but he was also wearing it last week in Cincinnati. If the injury was the reason for his loss, questions remain about why the odds changed so dramatically just two hours prior to the match.
It is not the first time the TIU has investigated a tour match over suspicions of match-fixing. In July it was confirmed that three matches at Wimbledon were being investigated. Two from qualifying and one from the main draw.
There has been no comment from Dolgopolov concerning the allegations.
