A huge blow for world tennis. Up to two elite players were supposed to influence duels – Tennis – Sport

Tennis is threatened by a scandal of unprecedented proportions. Immediately two players from the elite forty are being investigated for repeatedly influencing their matches in the interest of bettors. The information came from the German television ZDF, which filmed a report on the case.

According to the station’s information, it should be Nikoloz Basilashvili from Georgia, the 25th ATP player, and Aslan Karatsev from Russia, who is 40th. Allegedly, their Belarusian coach Jahor Jacyk is behind everything.

According to ITF investigative files, this happened in at least two cases. The young coach worked with Karacev from 2018 to 2021, and he started with Basilashvili in 2013 and spent roughly a year and a half with him.

It is obvious that these are the beginnings of the careers of today’s relatively successful tennis players. According to the investigation, this is precisely the specialty of the Belarusian coach, who selects promising young players. However, he is primarily interested in those who have personal or financial problems and are thus significantly more prone to succumb to his pressure.

“He has been involved in betting fraud for years and works with people involved in match-fixing in Russia and Eastern Europe. He always has a lot of money with him and is looking for young players who are struggling. Financial or psychological. They easily convince with money,” said the source, who did not wish to be named.

“Jacyk worked closely with both players and watched them for years. Both are talented. But they had financial problems in the beginning,” he added.

ZDF deals with five matches with unusually high betting fluctuations, in which the Russian Karacev was supposed to play. They were also interrogated by the French police.

“I can confirm that we have analyzed Aslan Karatsev’s matches, but due to our contracts with the world association, I cannot give any information about the specific results,” said Tom Mace, chief operating officer of Sportradar, which monitors the world association’s betting market.