Tennis match-fixing: Novak Djokovic slams ‘absurd’ 2007 claims

Italian newspaper Tuttosport published allegations about Djokovic’s 6-3, 6-2 defeat by Fabrice Santoro at the Paris Masters indoor tournament in 2007

Novak Djokovic in action at the Australian Open (Getty Images)

Novak Djokovic might have thought he was going to be asked only about his second-round victory over France’s Quentin Halys in the Australian Open here last night, but instead the world No 1 found himself answering highly personal questions about match-fixing.

An Italian newspaper, Tuttosport, yesterday published allegations about Djokovic’s 6-3, 6-2 defeat by Fabrice Santoro at the Paris Masters indoor tournament in 2007. The Serb was asked whether he had deliberately lost that match. “It’s not true,” Djokovic replied. “I don’t know if you’re trying to create a story about that match or, for that matter, any of the matches of the top players losing in the early rounds. I think it’s just absurd.”

Djokovic was aged 20 and world No 3 at the time of the Paris match, while Santoro was the world No 39. Djokovic had said afterwards that he was struggling after dental surgery to remove two wisdom teeth. “I couldn’t give my 100 per cent, not even 30 per cent of my possibilities,” Djokovic said at the time. “I’m still on medications. I didn’t practise for a whole week. I only started practising two days ago. Physically, I’m not feeling at all good.”

There were also suggestions that Djokovic might not have played in the Paris tournament but for the fact that he was in line to collect a bonus for appearing in all nine Masters Series tournaments that year.

The line of questioning here deflected attention from an emphatic victory in Rod Laver Arena by Djokovic, who beat the world No 187 6-1, 6-2, 7-6 to earn a third-round meeting with Andreas Seppi. There were times when Djokovic did not have it all his own way, but he never looked in any serious danger of slipping up against the French wild card.

Roger Federer, playing his 77th match at this tournament, beat Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-3, 7-5, 6-1 to preserve his record of always reaching the third round at Melbourne Park. The world No 3, who is extending his own record by playing in his 65th successive Grand Slam tournament, is competing here for the 17th year in a row.

The only current player who has competed in more singles encounters at the Australian Open is Serena Williams, who broke the tournament’s all-time record with her 79th match in the main draw. She needed only an hour to reach the third round, crushing Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei 6-1, 6-2.

Williams was struggling for fitness only a fortnight ago, withdrawing from the Hopman Cup without completing a match because of a knee injury, but that is rapidly becoming a distant memory. Asked after her latest victory whether the knee was still a problem, she replied: “No, it hasn’t been bothering me in a long time.”

Hsieh, the world No 90, did her best to test Williams’ fitness and even threw in the odd drop-shot service return. However, it was to no avail as the American eased into the third round, where she will face Russia’s Daria Kasatkina, who beat the world No 1’s sister, Venus, in the first round in Auckland a fortnight ago.

Venus, meanwhile, was fined $5,000 (about £3,500) for missing her post-match press conference following her first-round defeat at the hands of Johanna Konta, the British No 1.

Konta was back on court yesterday, playing her first match in the doubles, alongside Heather Watson. The Britons, who will join forces in the Fed Cup next month, beat Gabriela Dabrowski and Alicja Rosolska 6-1, 7-6.

Petra Kvitova went out of the tournament when she was beaten 6-4, 6-4 by Australia’s Daria Gavrilova. The two-times Wimbledon champion had been suffering with illness in the two weeks leading into the tournament.