In an extraordinary development to tennis's ongoing match-fixing
crisis, the world No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko has been fined $2,000 for
a lack of effort in his recent defeat to Marin Cilic in the St
Petersburg Open.
"Nikolay Davydenko was fined $2,000 for lack of best effort in his
second-round match against Marin Cilic," said the ATP in a
statement.
Davydenko was warned by Belgian umpire Jean-Philippe Dercq in the
final set for not trying hard enough. The player responded after
the match with a firm rebuttal of the allegation. "I double-faulted
to lose a game in the third set and he gave me a warning saying I
was trying to lose on purpose," he told reporters after the
match.
"I was simply shocked to hear him say that. This is just
outrageous. How does he know what I was trying to do? I was so
upset with the whole thing I started crying."
