By DPA
Montreal : Russian Nikolay Davydenko insisted that last week’s foot-injury which has sparked an international match-fixing investigation had been a well-kept secret.
After moving into the third round Wednesday at the Montreal Masters with a 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) win over Jarkko Nieminen, the world number five proclaimed his innocence of any wrong-doing in what the ATP fears could have been a fixed match.
“I don’t know how can people know about my injury. Maybe when I was practising or maybe the (Sopot tournament) physio knew. But I don’t know who else could,” said the Russian.
Davydenko won the first set 6-2 but then lost the second 6-3 and was trailing 2-1 in the third against unheralded Argentina Martin Vassallo Arguello when he withdrew with a foot injury.
London’s Betfair online agency refused to pay out on wagers, reporting an unusually high number of bets on the match – even after the first set – and informed the ATP.
The ATP has launched an international probe and has sent a delegation to London to speak with horse racing officials about how they handle similar situations.
Davydenko, who has won only two matches since Wimbledon, said he is all but unreachable and therefore cannot be contacted by gambling syndicates.
“Normally the ATP calls only my manager or my brother. I don’t want to have somebody call me and ask some questions about the match or something like this. In the hotel, my wife always answers the phone,” he said.
Davydenko said only his inner circle knew about his injury.
“I already didn’t know if I could finish the first match (last week), that’s how painful it was.”