Ukrainian’s fury at match-fixing claim
Alex dOlGOPOlOV last night reacted with foul- mouthed anger when asked about match- fixing inquiries relating to a match last week on the ATP Tour.
The Ukrainian, ranked no 64, is under investigation from the Tennis integrity Unit (TiU) over his 55-minute defeat in Winston-Salem to 114th-ranked brazilian Thiago monteiro, which saw betting suspended by ladbrokes due to suspect betting patterns.
‘You want my honest answer? i don’t give a f*** to be honest because it’s like a circus,’ said dolgopolov after a five-set first-round win at the US Open over Germany’s Jan-lennard Struff. ‘i think i should be asking you guys how you feel about writing, “maybe there’s a fix in the match because there is a market”.
‘Are you serious? You are going now to the statistics and saying it might be fixed because there is a market. Are you writing news or fairytales? i don’t want to even talk about it. i talked to the TiU, i respect their work, i gave all the information needed. At the end of the day, what’s going to happen is i’m not involved in anything.
‘That’s going to be what happens and these guys are still going to write that bulls***. For me, writing those things before there is an investigation is silly.’
While dolgopolov was angry off court, nick Kyrgios found himself struggling inside the lines as he lost 6-3, 1-6, 6-4, 6-1 to fellow Australian John millman.
Kyrgios was given a warning and then a point penalty for swearing and smashing his racket. he has failed to progress past a Grand Slam second round this year. he also needed treatment on his right shoulder in the third set. ‘i’ve had a diabolical year in the Slams, i’m not dedicated enough,’ said Kyrgios after the match.
roger Federer, who faces mikhail Youzhny in the second round today, did little to press his claims as tournament favourite in taking five sets to beat American teenager Frances Tiafoe in the first round.
‘my hope and my belief is that it’s only going to get better from here because every day that goes by puts me further away from what happened in montreal,’ said Federer, referring to the injury setback at the Canadian Open.
british no 3 Aljaz bedene yesterday went down 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 to 19-year- old russian Andrey rublev.
Kyle edmund and Cameron norrie, the last two surviving Gb singles players, were due on late last night.