Defending champions Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams stormed into the Australian Open third round yesterday as tennis authorities came under fire over their efforts to fight match-fixing.
Djokovic had a third-set tussle with French teenager Quentin Halys before winning their night match 6-1, 6-2, 7-6 (7/3), joining Williams and Roger Federer in the next stage.
As a match-fixing controversy continued to reverberate at Melbourne Park, Williams swatted Hsieh Su-Wei 6-1, 6-2 to reach the third round as she seeks a record-equalling 22nd major title.
Williams eased lingering concerns over the state of her injured knee as she obliterated the Taiwanese, even pulling off possibly her first ever round-the-net shot for good measure.
“It’s always cool to do something fresh and new. I don’t know if I have done that,” said the American world number one, who showed no signs discomfort from her knee. “I moved much better, so slowly but surely feeling a little bit better,” she added.
Federer, who is trying to extend his record number of Grand Slam crowns to 18, then dismantled his 35th-ranked practice partner Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-3, 7-5, 6-1.
Later, Djokovic was no match for Halys, 19, who had a net cord to thank as he broke the Serb in the third set, which went to a tie-break.
Separately, an senior anti-corruption official said that match-fixing was commonplace in tennis’s lower levels and criticised the “opaque and secretive” Tennis Integrity Unit, which is tasked with finding cheats.
Chris Eaton, director of integrity at the International Centre for Sport Security in Doha, was speaking after a report claimed several players suspected of being serial match-fixers had never been punished.
“Integrity is by definition open and transparent. The TIU is neither... by operating in the shadows they fail to practice what they preach,” he said, calling for a “new independent and integrated integrity model”.
The controversy is just the latest to hit the tainted sports world after claims of a doping cover-up shook athletics and multiple scandals engulfed football’s governing body, FIFA.
Petra Kvitova became the latest women’s top-10 player to fall, joining Simona Halep and Venus Williams on the sidelines when she was shocked 6-4, 6-4 by Australian giant-killer Daria Gavrilova.
In a positive evening for the hosts, the combustible Nick Kyrgios overcame a mix-up with his shorts to beat Pablo Cuevas and set up a showdown with world number six Tomas Berdych.
“Just a bit of a mix-up before the game,” shrugged Kyrgios, who had to change his shorts midway after the pockets on his first pair weren’t deep enough to hold balls when he was serving.
Agnieszka Radwanska’s sky-high confidence took another leap upwards when she halted Eugenie Bouchard, back in form after suffering concussion at the US Open, 6-4, 6-2.
On court earlier was five-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova, who had little difficulty dispatching 105th-ranked Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-2, 6-1.
Japanese seventh seed Kei Nishikori beat his close friend Austin Krajicek 6-3, 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 as he pressed his bid for a first Grand Slam title.
And Italy’s Roberta Vinci overcame Irina Falconi to move towards a potential semi-final rematch with Williams—whom she stunned in the US Open last four, ending her bid for a rare calendar-year Grand Slam.
“Yeah, I watch it every day,” deadpanned Williams, when asked if she had seen a recording of the match. “Every night to get ready.”
Venus hit with $5,000 fine for skipping PC
Elsewhere, not for the first time in her career, Australian Open eighth seed Venus Williams departed a Grand Slam in melodramatic style, apparently happy to wear a US$5,000 fine in order to avoid discussing her shock first-round exit at the hands of Great Britain’s Johanna Konta on Tuesday.
The maximum penalty for skipping mandated post-match press conferences is US$20,000 but Williams’ latest fine actually qualifies as a hefty punishment by the standards of those normally meted out on women’s players. Still, for a similar offence it is bettered only by the $10,000 penalty levied on Marat Safin for avoiding media commitments at the 2001 French Open.
It was left to Williams’ sister Serena to field questions later in the day. “I don’t know. If you want to, you can ask her,” she responded when asked about the walk-out. “I don’t know. I wasn’t here.”
Venus’ latest breach comes after a similar incident at the 2015 French Open, when she was slugged with a US$3,000 fine for skipping her press commitments following another first-round loss, that time to fellow American Sloane Stephens.
In 2010, she and Serena were fined $4,000 each for a media no-show following a doubles match and joined a varied roll call of past offenders that includes Andre Agassi, Mats Wilander, Goran Ivanisevic, Victoria Azarenka and Yevgeny Kafelnikov.
The episode is likely to bring into question the level of disincentive against players simply foregoing their media requirements when the monetary punishment pales in comparison with the prize money on offer at the tournament in question.
For her first-round exit, Venus still pocketed AU$38,500 and a second-round loser this year will take home AU$67,000.
Australian Nick Kyrgios, meanwhile, has been issued a US$3000 sanction for an audible obscenity during his first-round win over Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta on Monday. The Australian’s latest indiscretion has no impact on the suspended 28-day ban and $25,000 fine hanging over him since his infamous comments to Stan Warwrinka last August, which applies only to ATP events and not Grand Slams.
Kyrgios is no lone ranger, with 16 other players in the men’s draw sanctioned for audible obscenities or racquet abuse across the first round and qualifiers of the Australian Open.