Novak Djokovic has denied “absurd” claims in an Italian daily paper that he “wanted to lose” a match at the Paris Masters in 2007.
The Serb, then world number three, was beaten 6-3 6-2 by Frenchman Fabrice Santoro, positioned 36 places underneath him.
Djokovic, 28-year-old, says the match has just been reevaluated taking after a defilement examination by the media.
“You can pick any match that you like that the top player lost and just create a story out of it,” he said.
“I think it’s not supported by any kind of proof, any evidence, any facts. It’s just speculation, so I don’t think there is a story about it.”
A joint examination asserted that the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU), the association in charge of policing the game, neglected to follow up on suspicions that 16 main 50 positioned players have been included in match-settling.
Djokovic, the world number one, has already asserted he was offered £110,000 to lose a first-round match at the St Petersburg Open in 2007.
At the point when gotten some information about the cases about the Santoro match in Tuttosport after his Australian Open second-round triumph over French qualifier Quentin Halys, Djokovic said: “What it is to say? I’ve lost that match?
“I don’t know if you’re trying to create a story about that match, or for that matter any of the matches of the top players losing in the early rounds. I think it’s just absurd.”
In the interim, a previous senior cop has guaranteed tennis powers neglected to follow up on “extremely damaging evidence” he gave around a player connected to Sicilian card sharks thought to be settling matches at Wimbledon.
Albert Kirby, a previous investigator who had beforehand been responsible for the James Bulger murder examination, arranged a mystery report for the ATP in 2008 as a major aspect of an investigation into suspected match settling.
The ATP report into a suspicious match between the Russian Nikolay Davydenko and Martin Vassallo Arguello of Argentina cleared both players of breaking any tenets.
Be that as it may, Kirby said he got telephone proof from Arguello which he asserts demonstrated he had connections to four suspected Italian fixers.
“That information showed conclusively of his direct contact with the Italian gamblers. There was really a prima facie case to go for him,” he told.
Arguello has not reacted to addresses about his associations with the Italian players. The ATP has completely denied stifling the proof revealed by agents and said the data was not sufficiently solid to legitimacy any further enquiries.
