Tennis Faces 'Elephant in the Room'

Sept. 1, 2007 — -- Even as the world's top tennis players battle it out this weekend at the U.S. Open, reporters are asking about what a top official calls "the elephant in the room" -- a gambling scandal that has brought scrutiny upon one of the sport's stars.

"I'm pleased you brought the subject of gambling up," Etienne de Villiers, executive chairman of the international tennis body ATP, told reporters Friday at the U.S. Open. "That was the elephant in the room. So the elephant has finally come out."

The specter of gambling now haunts not only sharp-elbowed NBA -- which is coping with a scandal involving a referee alleged to have betted on games he officiated -- but also the gentlemanly sport of tennis.

Last month, Betfair, the world's largest Internet wagering company, took the unprecedented step of voiding all bets on a match involving Nicolay Davydenko, ranked No. 4 by the ATP, because of what it called "unusual ... betting patterns."

The ATP has launched an investigation, and the U.S. Tennis Association has publicized its heightened vigilance at the U.S. Open and its "zero-tolerance policy" on gambling.

"We are way ahead of most governing bodies in terms of this issue," de Villiers said Friday, according to a transcript of the session provided by the USTA. "We saw this coming. We're not going to be ostriches either. We're never going to be complacent."

The scandal has been a "major subtext" all week at the U.S. Open, according to Greg Garber, a senior writer for ESPN.com. Even so, before de Villiers' comments brought a new flash point to the talk, Garber sensed it fading somewhat as more conventional on-court storylines, such as an up-and-coming group of young American players, heated up.

"Invariably, tennis will win out," Garber said.

The controversy began when Betfair saw lopsided wagering at 10 times the expected volume on an Aug. 2 match in Poland between Russia's Davydenko and Argentina's Martin Vassallo Arguello, then ATP's No. 87 player.

Shortly before the match, "several large bets went on Arguello," unusual for an underdog in a second-round match at a relatively obscure tournament, Betfair told ABC News in a statement. And even though Davydenko won the first set 6-2, "even more money went on Arguello."

"If you are betting on a match to win money," Betfair's statement said, "this would appear to be the quickest way to go bankrupt."

Arguello won the second set, during which Davydenko called the trainer. Davydenko retired in the third set, citing an injury.

Betfair smelled a rat, voided all bets and notified the ATP.