Crime Beat
Tennis player ARRESTED at French Open for (very) possibly fixing matches
While much of the sports world focused on the "crimes" committed by LeBron James on Thursday night, another athlete was arrested for allegedly doing something that's actually illegal. During a major championship, no less.
Le Parisien reports Russian tennis player Yana Sizikova was arrested after coming out of a massage session following a first-round doubles loss. What a wild scene that must have been, although at least she got a rub down before being hauled away. In any event, Sizikova was charged with fixing matches, specifically a doubles match at last year's French Open in September.
In that match—another first-round loss—authorities detected unusual betting patterns. And quite the unusual bet: "hundreds of thousands of Euros" placed on a break of serve at 2-2 in the second set. It doesn't get much more specific than that! And it doesn't get more suspicious than when you watch video of what happened in that game.
Watch as Sizikova double faults twice and gives a rather lame effort at tracking down a ball on another point during the game in which her and partner, American Madison Brengle, lost at love (tennis term!):
Could she just have had a bad service game? Sure. But again, paired with the unusual gambling action, let's just say it doesn't look good.
Officially, Sizikova has been charged with sports bribery and organized fraud, and her arrest is part of an investigation into "sports corruption" that was opened up last fall by the Paris prosecutor's office. The 26-year-old is currently ranked 101st in doubles and 765th in singles.
As sports gambling becomes legal in more places in the United States, there's certainly a fear of shady things like this happening. And tennis doesn't have the best track record in this area. But. . . well . . . we're not going to let a few bad apples ruin the fun. In fact, here are our 13 best bets for the upcoming U.S. Open at Torrey Pines! Good luck!