TIU Investigating Suspicious Betting Patterns During U.S. Open First Round
The Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) is investigating suspicious betting patterns during a match between Switzerland’s Timea Bacsinszky and Russia’s Vitalia Diatchenko during the U.S. Open first round last week, according to Ben Rothenberg of the New York Times.
“While the T.I.U. is not prepared to answer detailed questions on the grounds of operational confidentialty, I can confirm that the match in question is the only one subject to a betting alert reported to T.I.U. at the U.S. Open,” Mark Harrison, a spokesman for the organization, told the NY Times. “As with all cases, the T.I.U. will assess, make a judgment and take appropriate action on the alert information received and obtained.”
Bacsinszky, ranked 15th in the world, was taking on the 677th ranked player in the world in Vitalia Diatchenko in a match that was widely considered a one-sided affair.
Even Diatchenko knew she had little chance of winning the match.
“If you come and see me play today, I think you will understand,” Diatchenko told the New York Times. “In the first set and the second set, it was the same—it was on and off, my level. It’s really difficult to play a full match. I have some advantages in the first set and the same in the second set. But it’s tough.
You know, I will be surprised if people put on me to win this match. I’m playing my second tournament of the year.”
Bacsinszky was a heavy favorite in the match, but that is not where the suspicious activity came into play. People can place bets on the winner of sets, games, even points.
“Side wagers, however, can be placed on bets like specific scores of sets, which can be manipulated in what is called spot fixing,” the New York Times report reads. “The bet-monitoring company FederBet told Buzzfeed News that betting volume on the Bacsinszky-Diatchenko match had been 10 times what was expected.”
