Following a recent report published by the New York Times, Ubitennis.net contacted Pinnacle Sports for more information concerning the incident.
Fresh concerns about match-fixing at the Australian Open has erupted after gambling website Pinnacle Sports suspended betting on a mixed doubles match between Lara Arruabarrena/David Marrero and Andrea Hlavackova/Lukasz Kubot.
Betting on the match was suspended due to ‘irregular activity’ identified by the company. The majority of the money was placed on Hlavackova and Kubot, who won the match 6-0, 6-3. Due to the unusual high amount of money being placed on the match, betting was suspended.
Following the loss, Marrero told his press conference that he previously had a scan which identified that he had an inflamed tendon in his knee. According to the New York Times, Marrero and Arrubarrena said that the injury was kept quiet and only a small group of people knew about it. Marrero later denied any wrongdoing.
“I am professional’ Marrero said.
“I try to make my best tennis on the court. If you see all my matches, I don’t like to pull out of tournaments”.
Ubitennis.net contacted Pinnacle Sports concerning the incident. Head of Sports, Marco Blume, confirmed to us that they have directly contacted tennis authorities regarding the suspension of the match. In a press released sent to Ubitennis, they stated that it was not their job to draw any conclusion about the match, but to alert the relevant sporting body.
“Our standard operating processes flagged this match as having an unusual betting pattern and our response was to suspend betting and inform the appropriate governing body immediately. As a sports betting business, it’s obviously not in our best interests to suspend a market, but the integrity of the Pinnacle Sports’ book and our customer’s interests always come first”. Blume said.
The irregularity occurred due to the betting limits placed on the match. The betting limits are the minimum and maximum amounts that a bettor can place on a certain event. In figures sent to Ubitennis, on January 21st the stake increased from $100 to $250. It then increased further to $500 on January 23rd at 01:26 before falling back to £100 later that day (10:26).
Match opened with a betting limit of $100, which changed as follows:
Increased from $100 to 250 – 21st January 23:05
Increased from $250 to 500 – 23rd January 01:26
Decreased from $500 to 100 – 23rd January 10:50
Note – match scheduled to start on 23rd January at 23:38
Due to these changes, betting was suspended at 10:59 as a precautionary measure.
It isn’t the first time that Pinnacle Sports has taken this action regarding a tennis match. Harry Lane, the Marketing Director of Pinnacle Sports, confirmed to Ubitennis that previous cases have occurred before, but refrained from discussing the details.
“Yes, we have taken steps to suspend betting on a tennis match before now, but no, we aren’t able to share any further information at this time.”. Mr Lane told ubitennis.net.
The latest incident follows a joint report from the BBC and Buzzfeed News, which alleges numerous cases of match-fixing in tennis. An accusation that has been denied by both the tennis authorities and the players.
