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Gambling, Mob Bosses, & Poisoning…In TENNIS!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by Joel on November 8, 2007
Yes, I wish I were making the title to this post up. In the last few months, the sporting world has been “rocked” by a scandal. Allegations yesterday of tennis player Tommy Haas, ranked 13th in the world, broke alleging that he was poisoned before his match with Mikhail Youzhny. During that match, Haas was forced to retire early during a Davis Cup semifinal match due to what was thought to be a stomach virus. Apparently a Russian manager said it was poisoning, not a stomach virus.
This latest allegation comes a couple of months after allegations of match-fixing broke. Belgian player Gilles Elseneer admitted that in 2005, he was offered $100,000 to lose a 1st round match at Wimbledon against Potito Starace but turned it down (honestly, I probably would have taken the money. It is $100K after all).
A popular online betting site back in August voided bets after noticing illegal betting patterns for a match pitting Nikolay Davydenko against 87th ranked Martin Vassallo Arguello. Davydenko, ranked 4th at the time, had to withdraw from the match due to a foot injury (allegedly).
There have also been “rumors” circulating throughout the tennis world that during matches overseas, “shady characters” can be seen hanging out by the locker rooms and in the stands. Tennis has been a target of “seedy characters” because matches can be manipulated without causing too much of an uproar.
So my take is this: There MUST be some truth to the match fixing going on. Even though Davydenko is ranked #4, he is not nearly as high profile as Federer, Nadal, Roddick, or Sharapova. If they can offer Gilles Elseneer $100K to lose a 1st round match at Wimbledon, imagine how deep that it goes. Unless you are a big tennis fan, you do not know who these guys are, it is an individual sport, unforced errors happen all the time, and because of the different amounts of prize money, a player may be able to be “convinced” to take a dive.
Sports betting is not a tennis exclusive, but it does happen in sports. My grandmother once said, “Things tend to get a lot worse before they get better”. I am thinking that this is the start of a bigger sports scandal. Maria, please provide me with a little comfort…
Big Orange Amy said
What is up with tennis? I guess I thought tennis was safe, unlike any other professional sport in the U.S. … or figure skating. Is tennis now worse than figure skating!?
Thomas the Terrible said
“Tommy Haas, ranked 13th in the world, broke alleging that he was poisoned before his match with Mikhail Youzhny.”
Now I don’t think mens tennis is AS gay as I originally thought…but still pretty gay.
Joel said
I didn’t even mention Martina Hingis and the cocaine “mysteriously” found in her system. Tennis, gotta love it…
Big Orange Amy said
I did notice that Martina was left out, but even her story isn’t as weird as the original post of poisoning and throwing matches.
sports betting tips said
Anything where the money gets big enough is dommed to become corrupted I guess.