‘I Don’t Give A F***’ - Alexandr Dolgopolov Hits Out Over Match-Fixing Accusations - UBITENNIS
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‘I Don’t Give A F***’ – Alexandr Dolgopolov Hits Out Over Match-Fixing Accusations

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6 years ago

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Alexander Dolgopolov (zimbio.com)

Alexandr Dolgopolov has publicly criticised the media regarding their coverage of an ongoing investigation into one of his matches relating to irregular betting patterns.

 

Moments after his first round win over Jan-Lennard Struff at the US Open, he reacted angrily when asked about the subject. Earlier this month the Tennis Integrity Unit confirmed that they were investigating a match at the Winston-Salem Open involving Dolgopolov. The inquiry was launched after the match was flagged up by bookmakers from suspicious betting patterns.

“The Tennis Integrity Unit was made aware of concerns over betting patterns during the match between Alexandr Dolgopolov and Thiago Monteiro at the ATP World Tour event in Winston-Salem, USA, yesterday (Sunday, August 20),” read the TIU statement.
“As with all match alerts, the TIU will assess, make a judgement and take appropriate action on the information received through its co-operative agreements with betting operators.”

Speaking about the investigation for the first time, the 28-year-old reacted angrily to the journalists during his press conference. He has accused some reporters of writing ‘fairytales’ about the incident. Dolgopolov has never been found guilty of any match-fixing offences to date.

“You want my honest answer? I don’t give a fuck to be honest, because it’s like a circus.” He said in New York.
“I think I should be asking you guys how you feel about your fellow journalists writing about maybe there’s a fix in the match because there is a market. I read the article. It was like the statistics of my break points. Are you serious? You are going now to the statistics and saying it might be fixed because there is a market? Are you writing news or fairytales? I go on social media and every time I have to delete 10 messages because people are doing threats, stuff to the family.”

Dolgopolov then insisted that he has never been involved in match fixing before confirming that he has already spoken with the TIU. A organisation that he publicly praised.

“I don’t want to even talk about it. I talked to the TIU. I respect their work. I gave all the information needed. At the end of the day, what’s going to happen is I’m not involved in anything.”

Why was Dolgopolov suspected?

Shortly before the start of the suspected match, betting analysts identified a sudden change in odds. Sportdw.com highlighted that 15 minutes before the start, Dolgopolov could have been backed at a price of 3.15, implying a 31.7% chance of winning. On the Saturday before the Ukrainian was a 1.36 favourite, indicating there he had a 73.5% chance of winning.

During his match against Monteiro, a player ranked 51 places lower than him, Dolgopolov failed to generate a single break point opportunity and only won 45% of his second service points. A performance the Ukrainian has put it down to ‘tiredness.’

“I was giving my best effort. I wasn’t playing my best. I was doing a lot of practice before [arriving at Flushing Meadows] because I wasn’t feeling good against [Nick] Kyrgios in Cincinnati. I was physically weak. I blacked out in that match. I wasn’t happy with my physical condition and I knew by New York I needed to get some work done. Obviously you want to be ready for the US Open at the tournament before. I was working hard and playing [despite] tiredness.”

Dolgopolov will play Tomas Berdych in the second round of the US Open.

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Jannik Sinner sets up a quarter final against Grigor Dimitrov in Beijing

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12 hours ago

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01/10/2023

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Jannik Sinner cruised into the quarter final of the China Open with a 6-2 6-0 win over Yoshihito Nishioka in 67 minutes at the China Open in Beijing. 

 

Earlier this week Sinner had won the first match in his career against Dan Evans in three sets. 

Sinner and Nishioka traded breaks in the first two games of the opening set. Sinner won 11 consecutive games in the first set to close out the match. Sinner now leads 2-0 in his head-to-head series against Nishioka.  

“During the first week in China I was sick, and somehow I tried to get through the first round and I knew then I would have one day off. Every day is different. I feel physically much better. I think when I have the shape of physicality, the way I play is a little bit bette Today I played well. Maybe on serve I have to improve a little bit the percentage. I think all the rest was really good today. There were key moments of this match that made my confidence grow”, said Sinner. 

Sinner set up a quarter final against Grigor Dimitrov, who beat Holger Rune 6-3 7-5. Dimitrov has drawn level to 1-1 in his two head-to-head matches against Rune, who beat his Bulgarian rival 3-6 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 in the Round of 16 at Wimbledon 2023. 

Dimitrov raced out to a 4-0 lead with a double break. Rune pulled a break back in the sixth game but Dimitrov earned his third break in the ninth game to close out the first set 6-3. 

Both players went on serve until the 12th game when Dimitrov earned his only break on his third match point with forehand drop volley winner to seal the second set 7-5. 

Dimitrov reached the quarter final for the fourth time in his eight appearances at the Beijing tournament. The Bulgarian player lost to Andy Murray in the final of the China Open in 2016.

“I have lost quite a few matches this year against against a few players like that, so I really wanted to step up a little bit more. I still felt I could have done a few things a little bit better, but a win is a win. I just need to think a little bit about what I can improve. From the first match to now I see a few things that are better, but I still believe I can top it off a little bit more”, said Dimitrov. 

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Aryna Sabalenka and Anhelina Kalinina reach the second round at the China Open in Beijing

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1 day ago

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01/10/2023

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This year’s Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka cruised into the second round with a 6-2 6-1 win over Sofia Kenin in just 67 minutes at the China Open in Beijing. 

 

Sabalenka fired 22 winners to just 9 unforced errors, while Kenis made made just seven winners. Sabalenka did not face a break point and broke twice in each set. 

World number 28 Anhelina Kalinina came from one set down to beat Marketa Vondrousova 1-6 6-4 6-1. 

Vondrousova broke three times to race out to a 5-0 lead. Kalinina pulled one of the breaks in the sixth game for 1-5 but Vondrousova sealed the first set 6-1 with her third break. 

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Kalinina lost just games in the rest of the match and broke three times to win the third set 6-1. 

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Alexander Zverev reaches his 10th quarter final of the season in Beijing

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2 days ago

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30/09/2023

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Alexander Zverev came back from one set down to beat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-7 (4-7) 6-2 6-1 reaching his 10thquarter final of the season at the China Open in Beijing. 

 

Zverev won the tie-break 7-4 with three mini-breaks after a marathon first set that featured six breaks of serve. Zverev broke twice in the third and fifth games to win the second set 6-2. The German earned three breaks to seal the third set. Zverev saved the only break point he faced in the final two sets. 

Zverev has improved to 4-1 in his head-to-head series against Davidovich Fokina. The Hamburg native player avenged his recent defeat against Davidovich Fokina in Toronto. 

The German player set up a quarter final against Nicolas Jarry. 

Zverev recently reached the quarter final at the US Open and won his second title of the season in Chengdu. He is currently seventh in the ATP Live Race to Turin and could rise to fifth if he wins his third title of the season in Beijing. 

“I am happy with win. I feel like I picked up my game a lot. I played a lot of tennis in the past two weeks. I just need to recover. I need to rest”, said Zverev. 

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