The Lewis Report, an independent study commissioned in 2018 by the sport\u2019s stakeholders, stated the level of match-fixing was \u201cvery significant\u201d, describing the basement of the professional game as a \u201cfertile breeding ground for breaches of integrity\u201d.<\/p>\n
Over eight months of reporting, The Athletic has been told of secret meetings between players and fixers at the Gare du Nord, seen a major police operation launched, and tracked more than a million dollars of betting on a match involving a 14-year-old girl. Eight years on from the Lewis Report, tennis still faces its vulnerabilities.<\/p>\n
Professor Richard McLaren, 80, led WADA\u2019s investigation into Russian state-sponsored doping, having also worked on high-profile cases involving steroid use in the MLB and suspicious refereeing outcomes in Olympic boxing. Now, he sits as one of the ITIA\u2019s four anti-corruption hearing officers. He has seen it all before.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t forget, when players fix with betting syndicates, they\u2019re ultimately making promises to criminals,\u201d he says early in our meeting, sitting in the lobby of a London hotel. \u201cThey\u2019ve done some significant damage to players that didn\u2019t fulfil their commitments, like kneecapping them, breaking their arms, threatening their families.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been threatened several times personally. So have people that work for me. Those were just verbal, but physical attacks are not uncommon, particularly with some of the sophisticated betting syndicates based in Eastern Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n
McLaren has worked on so many of these cases because of tennis\u2019 particular vulnerabilities. As one analyst had previously described it, unlike team sports, you only need to corrupt one player to guarantee a corrupt result. And unlike several other individual sports, each point is a new opportunity \u2014 offering potentially hundreds of betting opportunities each match.<\/p>\n
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\n Richard McLaren has warned of the threats of violence players face. (Stefan Wermuth \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat typically happens is that a syndicate will have a couple of very skilled people who search the internet all the time,\u201d he explains. \u201cThey then have their contact people who actually interact with the players. They then set what the rate\u2019s going to be, which runs anywhere from $1,000 to $10,000. That\u2019s the typical chain.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another weakness is the sport\u2019s pay disparity. Though the sport\u2019s top stars, the likes of Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, and Aryna Sabalenka, might earn more than $20 million in prize money each season, with more on top from commercial deals, they are outliers in the extreme. The Lewis Report estimated that only the top 250 female players and top 350 male players earned enough to break even before paying coaching costs. At the same time, more than 15,000 players appear in professional tournaments. Vanishingly few earn income outside of their prize money. Fixers thrive on this inconsistency.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese players are independent contractors, they\u2019re not employees,\u201d says McLaren. \u201cThey\u2019re not paid much themselves, but they have to pay for everything. Coaches, travel, hotels. Winning is what supports them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tennis\u2019 scoring system means players can be convinced to corrupt matches whilst still winning them. For example, one technique is to request that a player loses part of a match \u2014 such as the opening set, or a particular service game \u2014 before returning to playing at their best.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom their point of view, if they think they are going to lose a match nine times out of 10 while not really affecting the sport, it\u2019s a good way of making some money,\u201d McLaren adds.<\/p>\n
As he describes it, a strange paradox emerges \u2014 the need to lose in order to stay on tour.<\/p>\n
It means players are often rewarded by more than just money. McLaren has seen cases where players have been rewarded with first-class flights, had five-star hotel rooms booked on their behalf, or received treatment from physiotherapists who would ordinarily sit outside their budget.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow the syndicates have got that person hooked,\u201d says McLaren. \u201cThey made a bad choice, and they don\u2019t know how to get out of that choice. Don\u2019t forget that lots of them are quite young, so they\u2019re not very experienced at getting out of problems. Once you get on the treadmill, you\u2019re like a gerbil trying to get off. It just keeps spinning faster and faster.\u201d<\/p>\n
The numbers bear this out. Back in 2018, the Lewis Report surveyed more than 3,200 professional players as part of their investigation. Some 464 reported first-hand knowledge of match-fixing \u2014 around 15 percent of the respondents.<\/p>\n
Novak Djokovic, the most decorated male player of all time, had shared his own experience two years earlier, stating that he had been offered $200,000 to throw a first-round match in St Petersburg in 2006. Djokovic did not play the tournament.<\/p>\n
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\n Back in 2016, Novak Djokovic told how he had been indirectly approached by fixers. (Al Bello \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
\u201cI was not approached directly,\u201d he said in a post-match press conference<\/a> at the 2016 Australian Open. \u201cWell\u2026 I was approached through people that were working with me at that time, that were with my team. Of course, we threw it away right away. It didn\u2019t even get to me, the guy that was trying to talk to me, he didn\u2019t even get to me directly. There was nothing out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n The ITIA was founded in 2021 on the back of the Lewis Report\u2019s recommendations, which itself emerged from a joint BBC-Buzzfeed investigation in 2016, in which reporters alleged significant corruption within the world\u2019s top 50 over the previous decade. It replaced Tennis\u2019 Anti-Corruption Protocol, which dated back to 2008.<\/p>\n An independent body representing seven stakeholders \u2014 the ATP, WTA, ITF, and the four Grand Slams \u2014 the ITIA\u2019s CEO is Karen Moorhouse, who joined in 2023 after 14 years in a senior role at the Rugby Football League. Last year, it registered 68 suspicious match alerts across its competitions, down from 95 the year before.<\/p>\n \u201cl think every sport has a vulnerability to corruption,\u201d she explains over a video call during January\u2019s Australian Open. \u201cTennis has really gone out of its way to recognize where our abilities are in response, both in setting up the ITIA and making sure that we\u2019re well resourced in terms of our specific vulnerabilities.<\/p>\n \u201cA particular challenge around corruption is that, by definition, it is something that happens in secret. It\u2019s not something that you can go out and easily measure. So I\u2019m really proud of the number of cases we have, because it demonstrates that we\u2019re tackling that underbelly. We\u2019re sending a clear message that it\u2019s unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n Its remit is preventative as well as investigative. A major part of the body\u2019s work involves working with young players. Moorhouse mentions several courses that were running at the Australian Open as she spoke. Another development seeks to make the reporting process easier for players.<\/p>\n \u201cWe launched a programme last year called The Line,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s a WhatsApp channel which players can use either with their real names or anonymously, and they can ask us anything they want. If they\u2019re a bit nervous about something, they can come to us for guidance and advice. Players felt they had more boundaries over email \u2014 this has helped us.\u201d<\/p>\n Another of the body\u2019s successes has seen corrupt umpires targeted, particularly in tournaments across the Caribbean and South America.<\/p>\n Broadly, the scheme would work through the umpire\u2019s touchpad, which each uses to input the score. If the umpire knew that the syndicate was after a particular result in a specific point or game, they had the ability to input the incorrect score, triggering a payout, before correcting their \u2018error\u2019 later on.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve seen a marked decrease in this area over the last three or four years,\u201d says Moorhouse. \u201cBut it\u2019s something we can\u2019t become complacent about.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2023, tennis\u2019 biggest fixing scandal finally concluded with the imprisonment of Grigor Sargsyan, a man who, according to ITIA documents seen by The Athletic, had more than 180 players in his network spread over at least 30 countries.<\/p>\n Investigators linked a minimum of 375 corrupted matches with the Armenian fixer, and identified a network of 1,671 mules (individuals hired to place bets), front men (middle men between criminal organizers and players), and accounts through which bets were placed. There were even matches where, without knowing of the other, both players were on his books.<\/p>\n \n The trial of Grigor Sargsyan and his fixing network in Oudenaarde, Belgium in March 2023. (Benoit Doppagne \/ BELGA MAG \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n Detained by Belgian police in June 2018, and his electronic devices seized, the ripples of his arrest carried through tennis \u2014 providing the most in-depth picture yet of how fixing works in the modern game.<\/p>\n Sargsyan never placed the bets himself. Instead, via Telegram or WhatsApp, he would work alongside what law enforcement described as \u201can extensive criminal network,\u201d paying most of the winnings into the account of another Armenian, Andranik Martirosyan, named by the ITIA and Belgian Police<\/a> in several related cases. At its peak, police said, Sargsyan\u2019s network was capable of generating $406,000 each day.<\/p>\n After each fix was decided, players were paid through sites such as MoneyGram, Western Union, and Skrill, but several favoured in-person cash meetings. Sargsyan was a regular passenger on the train between Brussels and Paris \u2014 frequently meeting players at the Gare du Nord, envelopes stuffed with cash carried in his inside pockets.<\/p>\n But Sargsyan\u2019s main skill was in recruitment. He would frequently attend far-flung tournaments in person, popping up on a different continent by the round. One player who was later found guilty of fixing, Frenchman Thomas Setodji, described how they met in his witness statement.<\/p>\n \u201cSargsyan approached (Setodji) and was asked to sit down by him while eating following a match,\u201d the ITIA\u2019s report said. \u201c(Setodji) testified that Sargsyan said he was a tennis fan, liked the way the player had played, and \u2018would like to be a sponsor for me. So we exchanged numbers and that is it\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n Sargsyan also used the sport\u2019s small world to spread his network. He recruited a coach, Sebastian Rivera, who had a direct line to vulnerable younger players, many of whom he convinced to fix<\/a>. Rivera would later be banned from tennis for life.<\/p>\n However, sometimes it took more than money to motivate players. One player, Yannick Thivant, had originally agreed to a fix before changing his mind and playing his best. Sargsyan was not informed. Later, he messaged Thivant in a fury.<\/p>\n \u201cDo not tell me \u2014 do not oblige me to tell you how it is happening,\u201d he texted. \u201cSo, you have to pay me back this money over the next matches, otherwise do not let me show you how it ends.\u201d<\/p>\n Thivant began to fix matches, initially unpaid. He was later given a lifetime ban by the ITIA<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s important to remember that often there will be an organised network behind this, but the player may not know that,\u201d Moorhouse said. \u201cSo they may well just think this is something small, one person, but they\u2019re not privy to the full picture.\u201d<\/p>\n Sargsyan was given five years in prison. He was the only non-playing individual within the syndicate who faced sanctions. Outside court, he was stopped by a Washington Post reporter<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIf the prosecutor knew what I know, there would be many more people on trial,\u201d he told them.<\/p>\n Some players caught in fixing schemes can rationally claim entrapment. Others appear far more aware of what they are doing \u2014 and why.<\/p>\n Quentin Folliot reached a career-high of world No. 488, a ranking that increased by more than 200 places whilst working with fixers. His motivations were laid bare by a Snapchat recorded in October 2022, later uncovered by investigators.<\/p>\n The photo showed him at a party with a large wedge of cash, one day after messages recorded him agreeing to fix a match. The caption?<\/p>\n \u201cCa met un peu de beurre dans les epinards.\u201d Translation: \u201cIt puts a little butter in the spinach.\u201d<\/p>\n Folliot\u2019s texts are another window into how fixes have operated. Released in ITIA sanction filings, one exchange showed him being offered a deal \u2014 to lose a game for $870 (\u20ac750), or to lose the match for $2,900 (\u20ac2,500). He chose the latter. Later, he asked his handler to send some of the payment in advance \u201cto pay (for) my flight ticket. Two days later, he requested the remainder \u2014 \u201cI\u2019m in (a) party. I need to pay.\u201d<\/p>\n Another time, a doubles partner, Lucas Bouquet, told Folliot he was not going to play his best in the pair\u2019s upcoming match, prioritizing a singles match in a different tournament the next morning. Folliot reported this information back to the fixers.<\/p>\n \u201cFrankly, if Folliot isn\u2019t caught one day, I don\u2019t understand it,\u201d another professional texted Bouquet.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, he\u2019s a suspect but his (fixing) contact has an undercover agent who closes the files,\u201d Bouquet replied.<\/p>\n But Folliot, unawares, was in fact being tracked by investigators. He received a 20-year ban from tennis last December.<\/p>\n The live stream shows two players, one of whom is about to serve. They are playing in what looks like little more than a municipal gymnasium, with no crowd in sight. The first sign that something is amiss happens when a torch flickers through a semi-ajar door.<\/p>\n Armed police burst in, ordering the players to the side of the court as part of a Belarusian investigation into suspected manipulation. Over the previous months, numerous players at this event, the Daily Premier Tour, had been observed showing a lack of interest in points, competing at a near amateur level.<\/p>\n The feed from the betting website, carrying footage of the match across the globe, rolls on.<\/p>\n \u041c\u0430\u0441\u043a\u0438-\u0448\u043e\u0443 \u0432 \u043f\u0440\u044f\u043c\u043e\u043c \u044d\u0444\u0438\u0440\u0435: \u0432 \u0411\u0435\u043b\u0430\u0440\u0443\u0441\u0438 \u0441\u0438\u043b\u043e\u0432\u0438\u043a\u0438 \u043d\u0430\u043a\u0440\u044b\u043b\u0438 \u043b\u044e\u0431\u0438\u0442\u0435\u043b\u044c\u0441\u043a\u0438\u0439 \u0442\u0443\u0440\u043d\u0438\u0440 \u043f\u043e \u0442\u0435\u043d\u043d\u0438\u0441\u0443.<\/p>\n \u0417\u0440\u0438\u0442\u0435\u043b\u0438, \u0441\u043c\u043e\u0442\u0440\u0435\u0432\u0448\u0438\u0435 \u043c\u0430\u0442\u0447\u0438 \u043d\u0430 \u0441\u0430\u0439\u0442\u0430\u0445 \u043d\u0435\u043b\u0435\u0433\u0430\u043b\u044c\u043d\u044b\u0445 \u0431\u0443\u043a\u043c\u0435\u043a\u0435\u0440\u043e\u0432, \u0432\u043d\u0435\u0437\u0430\u043f\u043d\u043e \u0443\u0432\u0438\u0434\u0435\u043b\u0438, \u043a\u0430\u043a \u043f\u0440\u0430\u0432\u043e\u043e\u0445\u0440\u0430\u043d\u0438\u0442\u0435\u043b\u0438 \u0441\u0442\u0430\u0432\u044f\u0442 \u043a \u0441\u0442\u0435\u043d\u0435 \u0441\u0443\u0434\u0435\u0439 \u0438 \u0442\u0435\u043d\u043d\u0438\u0441\u0438\u0441\u0442\u043e\u043a. \u041d\u0430 \u0441\u043b\u0435\u0434\u0443\u044e\u0449\u0438\u0439 \u0434\u0435\u043d\u044c \u043b\u0438\u043d\u0438\u044f \u043d\u0430 \u0438\u0433\u0440\u044b \u044d\u0442\u043e\u0433\u043e \u0442\u0443\u0440\u043d\u0438\u0440\u0430 \u043f\u0440\u043e\u043f\u0430\u043b\u0430. pic.twitter.com\/ILLUREUL2G<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/GettyImages-1248435222-scaled.jpg\")
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