A Fixed Serve...??

The Wimbledon '08 is over and the king of Grass was dethroned by his arch nemesis. A result that might actually do a lot of good for the game. Probably the final was one of the best games ever to be played in the history of the tournament.


But i would like to go back to when the tournament began this year. It began with startling accusations of max fixing in the game of tennis. Yes it did. In spite of assurances by game officials regarding the integrity of the game, speculations still remained quite high regarding it. However reports of players "throwing" games for monetary benefits have been known to surface from time to time, in the history of the game.

Usually such accusations fly when a high ranked player loses rather pathetically, to a literally unknown player. Whether it was just a day of poor show or of poor sportsmanship is difficult to say. A gambling watchdog had claimed that a "top" player had thrown a match at Wimbledon two years ago. This was suspected after there were strangely inconsistent betting activity on certain games, indicating a possible revelation of the result before the game itself. Though these are just speculations and nothing has been proved so far. Unexpected straight set losses may possibly hint at possible foul play too, though nothing is conclusive. There have also have been several reports by players, claiming to have been approached by offers to fix a game in exchange for monetary gains.

A report by the Scotland Yard lists about 45 games,that are to be further reviewed on the basis of "suspected" activity. Following this, its believed, more matches could come under official's scrutiny. Gambling watchdogs do keep a look out for unexpected betting activities on games as well as maintain a tab on players who are susceptible to corruption.

To prevent any such dubious activities, the Wimbledon has adopted new security measures for the tournament. This includes allowing only one person along with the player into the locker room. This opposed to the 5 or 6 that they used to have with them - including the coach, trainer, therapist, parents, friend etc. Something, not taken very happily by the players.

Whether these allegations are true or is it just the nature of the game that throws such surprises, one might find it difficult to ascertain. Tennis is an expensive game to pursue at the international level. Top ranked players like Federer or Nadal may not find the financial strains thanks to the multi-million dollar endorsement campaigns that they have. However some low ranked players might find the lure a bit too tempting to resist. That doesn't mean that every unexpected poor show is the result of corruption. Might be just their bad day, or sometimes its just in our minds as we are not able to accept a poor show by our heroes.

Already wide spread match fixing rackets exposed in other international sporting events like football and cricket, lets hope tennis isn't next on the list.

Comments

Anonymous said…
To the owner of this blog, how far youve come?You were a great blogger.
Anonymous said…
I don't follow Tennis that much,but its astounding to hear match fixing over here too. As far as i know, Tennis is supposed to be a posh game next to golf, If so, why would they want to throw games for monetary benefits? Duh. Ah well, Money. Darn..
BTW,
"To prevent any such dubious activities, the Wimbledon has adopted new security measures for the tournament. This includes allowing only one person along with the player into the locker room"


ROFL. :)

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