Tennis player is suspended for gambling

An Italian journeyman became the first tennis player to be punished under the sport’s anti-corruption program for betting on matches, the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) announced Saturday.

Alessio Di Mauro, ranked No. 124, received a nine-month suspension and $60,000 fine -- and the ATP said it wanted stiffer sanctions. The maximum penalty would have been a three-year suspension.

“This ruling underlines the ATP’s stated policy of not tolerating players, associates or staff gambling on tennis,” Gayle Bradshaw, the organization’s administrator of Rules & Competition, said in a statement.

“The ATP requested that the maximum sentence be imposed and whilst we would have preferred a longer suspension, we recognize that the independent Anti-Corruption Hearing Officer has to administer sanctions related to the specifics of the case and not as a general prevention.”

Bradshaw, who is also one of the point men in the Nikolay Davydenko investigation, noted that there was “no evidence” of an attempt by Di Mauro to bet on his own matches or “affect the outcome of any matches.”

The probe found that Di Mauro, 30, placed bets on tennis matches from November 2006 to June 2007. His suspension will be lifted in August 2008.

Di Mauro’s coach, Fabio Rizzo, said in published reports in Italy that Di Mauro’s wagers were made online and were in small amounts, in the range of $10 to $20. Those assertions, though, were undercut by his heavy betting activity during that time period -- 120 bets over 338 matches, according to an ATP official.

Di Mauro has played mostly challengers this year but reached the final of a tour-level event in Buenos Aires in February, and lost in the first rounds of the Australian Open and French Open.

The issue of on-line gambling came into focus after betting was suspended by the British Internet betting site, Betfair, when suspicious patterns emerged during a Davydenko match at Sopot, Poland, in August.

Davydenko won the first set of the match in question but retired in the third set because of an injury. Betfair ultimately voided all bets and an ATP investigation into the matter was launched.

Davydenko, in Shanghai for the season-ending Masters Cup, told reporters Saturday he did not know when the probe would be completed, saying, “Ask ATP.”

Also in Shanghai, Etienne de Villiers, the ATP’s chief executive, said the matter was not a “witch hunt” after Davydenko’s lawyer expressed anger at the way the investigation has been handled.

--

lisa.dillman@latimes.com