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PARIS. — An investigation has begun into alleged match-fixing in a women’s doubles match at the French Open.
The prosecutors’ office said the investigation into “fraud in an organised group” and “active and passive corruption”, was related to the match between Andreea Mitu and Patricia Maria Tig against Yana Sizikova and Madison Brengle.
Romanian pair Mitu and Tig won the first-round encounter 7-6 (10-8) 6-4 against Russian Sizikova and American Brengle before being knocked out in the third round at Roland Garros.
French Open organisers said that it was a matter for the Tennis Integrity Unit to handle, with the TIU, who investigate potential corruption within the sport, declining to comment yesterday as is usual with ongoing investigations.
According to German newspaper WELT, hundreds of thousands of euros in bets were placed on Sizikova’s serve to be broken, leading to suspicions of fraud.
Footage from the game showed that the 25-year-old Russian was broken in the fifth set, as she served double-faults in the first and final points before stumbling while failing to reach a return at 15-0.
L’Equipe have also reported that large sums of money were bet on the Romanians winning the game and that the wagers were placed in several countries through Paris-based gambling outlets.
Mitu and Mari won the first-round encounter 7-6 (10-8), 6-4, before being knocked out in the third round on Sunday.
The incident comes months after Brazil’s Joao Souza was handed a lifetime ban after he was found guilty of numerous match-fixing charges.
The ultimate sanction, in conjunction with a $200,000 (£153,000) fine for the 31-year-old, came following an investigation by the TIU.
Souza was found to have committed multiple breaches of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program, including incidents of match-fixing at ATP Challenger and ITF Futures tournaments held in Brazil, Mexico, the United States and Czech Republic.
Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic defeated Karen Khachanov in straight sets to make the French Open tennis quarter-finals for the 11th consecutive year on Monday while Sofia Kenin escaped trouble to also clinch a spot in the last eight.
Top seed and 2016 champion Djokovic won 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 against Russian 15th seed Khachanov to draw level with Rafael Nadal on a record 14 quarter-final appearances in Paris.
Djokovic faced his toughest assignment so far but Khachanov was unable to derail his bid to become the first man in half a century to win all four Grand Slam titles twice.
The Serb hit 44 winners and has yet to drop a set in the tournament, losing only 25 games in four rounds. He improved his record in 2020 to 35 wins against just one loss.
“It was a very even match, perhaps more difficult than the result showed,” said Djokovic, who is chasing an 18th Grand Slam title.
He admitted to suffering an “awkward moment of deja vu” after unintentionally hitting a ball which smashed into the head of a line judge while trying to return serve.
The incident came just weeks after Djokovic was defaulted at the US Open in New York for swiping angrily at a ball which hit a female line judge, standing just behind him, in the throat. “I’m actually trying to find the lines-person and see if he’s okay because I saw he had a little bit of a bruise,” said Djokovic.
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