Tennis round-up: ITF hits back at Sharapova criticism, Wimbledon match in fixing probe

Plus a round-up of the action in China and Japan.

Maria Sharapova has received backlash from the ITF. Peter Parks / AFP

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) hit back on Thursday at criticism over its handling of Maria Sharapova’s drugs ban for meldonium.

The administrator of the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme denied it had sought a four-year ban for the former world No 1 and, in a statement, rejected suggestions by the Russian that its independent tribunal was “not neutral”.

The ITF also emphasised it had not known, prior to this year when the drug was put on the banned list, that meldonium was in common use by eastern European athletes.

Five-time grand slam winner Sharapova was cleared by the Court of Arbitration for Sport to return to action in April after her two-year suspension was reduced to 15 months on Tuesday.

Sharapova, 29, said then that other sports federations had been more effective at communicating with athletes and hoped the ITF would take note.

Her lawyer John Haggerty described the ITF’s procedure for relaying rule changes as a “night and day difference” to the “vivid and direct warnings” from others.

“The ITF did not try to ban Ms Sharapova for four years, as has been suggested,” the tennis governing body said. “The ITF stated clearly that it was the responsibility of the Independent Tribunal – and subsequently the CAS Panel – to determine what the appropriate sanction should be.

“Ms Sharapova has stated that the Independent Tribunal was ‘not neutral’,” it added.

“Ms Sharapova’s legal team was given the opportunity to object to the appointment of any member of that Tribunal in advance of the hearing, and they agreed in writing that they had no such objection.”

Wimbledon match under spotlight

The Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) revealed on Thursday they are investigating whether a match at this year’s Wimbledon was fixed.

The TIU received an alert regarding one match played at the grass-court Grand Slam in London.

Its alerts come from regulators and betting organisations, who can report matches if they notice suspicious betting patterns.

The TIU said it received 96 alerts from July to September, of which two came in Grand Slams, the first at Wimbledon and the second at the US Open.

A TIU statement said: “Historically, grand slams receive very few match alerts and in keeping with that record, only two were received during the period; one at Wimbledon, the other at the US Open.

“Both are the subject of routine, confidential investigation by the TIU.”

The US Open match under investigation had already been disclosed, with the TIU having announced in September it was looking at the match between Vitalia Diatchenko and Timea Bacsinszky.

It has not given details of the Wimbledon match that is under scrutiny.

The TIU’s guidance states: “It is important to appreciate that an alert on its own is not evidence of match-fixing.”

Monfils into last-eight in Japan

French second seed Gael Monfils advanced to the Japan Open quarter-finals with a victory over compatriot Gilles Simon on Thursday in a field blighted by injury.

The world No 8 nailed seven aces to oust Simon 6-1, 6-4 in one hour and 16 minutes.

The triumph was 30-year-old Monfils’ second victory against Simon, ranked 30th in the world, in their eight ATP meetings.

Monfils, who has made it to the semi-final in the US Open but fell to Novak Djokovic, was a runner-up at the Japan Open’s 2010 edition, when Rafael Nadal triumphed.

Kerber crashes out of China

Ukrainian Elina Svitolina scored her second win this year over a world No 1, ousting Angelique Kerber in the round of 16 in Beijing on Thursday.

Nineteenth-ranked Svitolina took just two sets to beat newly crowned No 1 Kerber – who ascended to the top spot at the US Open, the same week she also claimed her second major crown – with a 6-3, 7-5 win.

Svitolina, 22, left Serena Williams in tears in Rio in August, denying the 22-time grand slam champion a fifth Olympic gold medal with a straight set win.

“When they announce [the names at the start of the march] you have this weird feeling because you realise you’re playing against world No 1,” Svitolina said after the match.

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