Is tennis fixed?

The news that match-fixing is being investigated in tennis is little shock to those that have bet seriously on the sport for some time.

However, it has been given further currency by Lleyton Hewitt’s remarks about one of the matches he played in, and this match is is one of the 140 currently being examined.

Last January in the Adelaide International Hewitt played Serbian Janko Tipsarevic. Tipsarevic withdrew citing a groin injury when the score was 6-1 4-2 but after the match Hewitt expressed surprise and said:

" I saw him occasionally jump and touch somewhere around his groin area, before he then played on a few more games. After the injury break I still felt I was moving him around the court and coming up with some decent shots."

"There was one backhand he rifled up the line and if he had that bad a groin I don’t know how he could have pulled that off."

Hewitt himself is not under investigation for this match.

Betfair punters, among others, have complained in the past about perceived irregularities in betting patterns where some tennis matches are concerned. And Betfair, as recently as August, took the unprecendented step of not paying out on a game between Nikolay Davydenko and Martin Vasallo Arguello, when close to £4m was wagered on the low key contest.

Another match believed to be under scrutiny is the 2005 Australian Open quarter-final between Andy Roddick and Davydenko.