Copyright © 2016. No duplication is permitted without permission from Bob Larson Tennis.

Roger Federer isn’t buying into the explosive tennis match-fix hysteria, instead using logical thinking and calm rationality to call for solid evidence – and names – of any alleged player evildoers involved in the aged and vague situation.

Tennis has gone ballistic after a BBC television program made unsubstantiated match-fix details, dredging up cases investigated and settled nearly a decade ago but failing to provide any fresh detail on any aspect of the issue.

Australian Open third seed Federer made his position clear under a barrage of questioning after he began the first round. “I  don’t know exactly how many new things came out, to be quite honest. I heard old names being dropped. That story was checked out.

“Clearly you got to take it super serious, like they did back in the day. I don’t know how many new things are out there. It’s just really important that all the governing bodies and all the people involved take it very seriously, that the players know about it. There’s more pressure on these people now maybe because of this story, which is a good thing.

“Under my watch (as ATP Player Council president)  I mean, we discussed it.”

The issue blew up on the eve of the Open as the BBC broadcast a program charging that tennis bosses had turned a blind eye to various match-fixing scandals in the period from around 2008, with the broadcaster saying the ATP has “failed to act on repeated warnings about suspect players.” The BBC said it had “secret evidence of match-fixing in tennis,” but did not name any players.

Federer said that while proof seems sketchy, that does not downplay the seriousness of the issue. “It’s like who, what, it’s thrown around. It’s so easy to do that. I would like to hear names, then at least it’s concrete stuff and you can actually debate about it.”

The program also hinted that an unnamed grand slam winner – singles, doubles or mixed was not specified – had been involved in illegal activities. The BBC did not, however, provide any evidence for its charge.

“Was it the player? Was it the support team? Who was it? Was it before? Was it a doubles player, a singles player? Which slam?,” Federer asked.
“It’s so all over the place. Like I said, it’s super serious and it’s super important to maintain the integrity of our sport. So how high up does it go? The higher it goes, the more surprised I would be, no doubt about it.

“Not about people being approached, but just people doing it in general. I just think there’s no place at all for these kind of behaviors and things in our sport. I have no sympathy for those people.”

Copyright © 2016. No duplication is permitted without permission from Bob Larson Tennis.