Yeh there was some match fixing within the last few years. There was one player in particular where he seemed to throw a few of them (with heavy action against him). This resulted in betfair starting to share unusual trading activity with the ATP. Haven't kept up with tennis so I don't know if anyone got into trouble over it.
the tank
The tank is normally motivated by the ATP points system, not money. The features of the points system are:
1. You get points for having reached a given stage in each event.
2. If you beat Federer in round 1 you get exactly the same points as beating the number 500 player in the world.
3. The points are totted up on a rolling 12 month basis to give your ranking.
4. In a normal 32 man event, the top 8 players in ranking will be "seeded" and play generally weaker players in rounds 1 and 2.
I am going to pick on a hypothetical match between Acasuso and Zabaleta since Argentinians are very often involved in tanks. It's round 2 of the Chilean Open.
Last year Acasuso won this event, so his current ranking of 34 will drop to around 45 if he loses to Zaba. Zaba is entering this event for the first time so his current ranking of 25 will improve slightly even if he loses.
If Acasuso drops to 45 he will often not be seeded in the events he has entered over the next 6 weeks. This means he might be facing guys like Fedex and Nadal in round 1 instead of qualifiers and lucky losers. He played well last year in these events, his confidence boosted by his win in Chile. He can easily see himself dropping to the 60s if he can't repeat this high level.
But this year he's been struggling and is low on confidence. In these circumstances - and this sort of scenario plays out every week in every event on tour - it is easy to see why Acasuso's coach might approach Zaba's with a financial offer to lose this match.
The tank is normally motivated by the ATP points system, not money. The features of the points system are:
1. You get points for having reached a given stage in each event.
2. If you beat Federer in round 1 you get exactly the same points as beating the number 500 player in the world.
3. The points are totted up on a rolling 12 month basis to give your ranking.
4. In a normal 32 man event, the top 8 players in ranking will be "seeded" and play generally weaker players in rounds 1 and 2.
I am going to pick on a hypothetical match between Acasuso and Zabaleta since Argentinians are very often involved in tanks. It's round 2 of the Chilean Open.
Last year Acasuso won this event, so his current ranking of 34 will drop to around 45 if he loses to Zaba. Zaba is entering this event for the first time so his current ranking of 25 will improve slightly even if he loses.
If Acasuso drops to 45 he will often not be seeded in the events he has entered over the next 6 weeks. This means he might be facing guys like Fedex and Nadal in round 1 instead of qualifiers and lucky losers. He played well last year in these events, his confidence boosted by his win in Chile. He can easily see himself dropping to the 60s if he can't repeat this high level.
But this year he's been struggling and is low on confidence. In these circumstances - and this sort of scenario plays out every week in every event on tour - it is easy to see why Acasuso's coach might approach Zaba's with a financial offer to lose this match.
