Sunday, August 5, 2007
Underlining the importance of protecting tennis's "appeal and integrity," the head of the men's professional tour promised yesterday to use "all means available" for an investigation into suspicious betting on a match involving fourth-ranked Nikolay Davydenko.
Etienne de Villiers, the ATP's executive chairman, said in an e-mail to the Associated Press that "independent, external resources" would be used to look into why a British online gambling company received about $7 million in wagers on the match, 10 times the usual amount.
Most of the money was on No. 87 Martin Vassallo Arguello of Argentina to win -- and some of those bets were placed after he lost the first set to Davydenko, a semifinalist at the French Open twice and at the U.S. Open last year.
The gambling company, Betfair, voided all bets on the second-round match on clay at Sopot, Poland. Davydenko wound up winning the second set, then retiring in the third with a left toe injury.
"It is important that we not jump to conclusions, especially when players' reputations could be unfairly tainted," de Villiers said. "What we must do is carry out a comprehensive and immediate investigation, and that is what we are doing."
Davydenko's agent, Eckhard Oehms, told the AP the Russian was "flabbergasted" when told about the suspicious betting.
"Neither Nikolay nor his coach nor me nor anybody out of our entourage has been involved in this," Oehms said in a telephone interview.
· SAILING: Zaraffa, the U.S. Naval Academy's new boat, won the Governor's Cup race, its first win in the 34-history of the event. One-hundred fifty boats entered this year's race from Annapolis to St. Mary's City.
In another first, an all-high school crew from Southern Maryland won in their class. Age of Reason, manned by sailors from Leonardtown and Patuxent high schools, won the C/D class.
David Andril of Arlington and his crew aboard Valkyrie took home the Waldschmitt Award for the best in fleet.
· BOXING: WBC lightweight champion David Diaz refused to let Erik Morales make history at his expense, denying his bid to become the first Mexican to win world titles in four weight classes with a unanimous decision last night in Rosemont, Ill.
· AUTO RACING: IndyCar Series points leader Dario Franchitti will start today's Firestone Indy 400 in Brooklyn, Mich., right where he'd like to finish -- out front. The Scotsman won his first pole of the season and the fourth of his career, turning a lap of 218.308 mph. . . .
Fernando Alonso was dropped from the pole of the Hungarian Grand Prix and will start sixth. FIA, world motor sport's governing body, overruled stewards and determined that the two-time defending Formula One champion and his McLaren team had delayed teammate Lewis Hamilton during a pit stop. Hamilton gained the pole.
· WNBA: Katie Douglas scored 19 points and the host Connecticut Sun routed the Indiana Fever, 84-59, for its fifth consecutive victory. . . .
Tina Thompson scored 14 of her 26 points in the fourth quarter and the visiting Houston Comets held off the Minnesota Lynx, 80-77. . . .
Shana Crossley came off the bench to lead host San Antonio for the second straight game in scoring with 26 points as the Silver Stars clinched their first playoff berth since moving to Texas with an 86-67 win over the Los Angeles Sparks. . . .
Betty Lennox scored 25 points, Lauren Jackson 23 and Iziane Castro Marques22 to lead the Seattle Storm to a 111-101 win over the Phoenix Mercury.
· ACTION SPORTS: Skateboarder Jake Brown made an appearance at the X Games in Los Angeles, two days after a towering drop that made TV and Web video watchers gasp and left him with a bruised lung and liver and a pair of broken bones.
Fresh from the hospital and walking with a cane, Brown appeared briefly between motorcycle races at the Home Depot Center. "I'm doing great, I'm still walking, that's more than I can ask for," Brown told the crowd. "I can't wait to come back."
· MEMORIAL SERVICE: A memorial service will be held tomorrow at 7 pm. for Arnold W. McKnight at the Southeast Tennis and Learning Center. McKnight, who was the director of the center and the chairman of the D.C. Boxing and Wrestling Commission, died last Tuesday after a month-long battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 68.
-- From News Services and Staff Reports
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