Tennis match-fixing: Novak Djokovic reveals he was approached to throw match in 2007

Melbourne As allegations of corruption and matchfixing rocked the tennis world on Monday World number one Novak Djokovic made a shocking revelation saying he was approached to fix a match earlier in his careerThe BBC and BuzzFeed claimed 16 players who had reached the top 50 in the past decade including Grand Slam champions had been repeatedly suspected of fixing matches for betting syndicates The report prompted a swift denial from authorities that any evidence of matchfixing had been suppressed as well as speculation over the identities of the players involvedALSO READTennis matchfixing rocks Australian Open Grand slam winners involvedSerbias Novak Djokovic celebrates after victory in his mens singles match against South Koreas Chung Hyeon on day one of the 2016 Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on Monday PicAFPSpeaking to the media after his opening round win over South Koreas Chung Hyeon at the Australian Open Djokovic played down the report but he also said he was targeted in 2007 to throw a firstround match at St PetersburgI was not approached directly I was approached through people that were working with me at that time he told reporters in MelbourneOf course we threw it away right away It didnt even get to me the guy that was trying to talk to me didnt even get to me directly There was nothing out of it Unfortunately in those times there were rumours some talks some people were going around They were dealt withIn the last six seven years I havent heard anything similar I personally was never approached directly so I have nothing more to say about thatthe 28yearold was reportedly offered 200000 to throw the match in an incident which gives an insight into the murky world of matchfixing which the Serb called a crime in sportIt approach made me feel terrible because I dont want to be anyhow linked to this kind of thing he saidSomebody may call it an opportunity For me thats an act of unsportsmanship a crime in sport honestly I dont support itI think there is no room for it in any sport especially in tennisI always have been taught and have been surrounded with people that had nurtured and respected the sports values Thats the way Ive grown up Fortunately for me I didnt need to get directly involved in these particular situationsThe 10time Grand Slam champion added that it was borderline to have a betting company sponsoring this years Australian Open a move which has caused disquiet in some quartersIts a fine line Honestly its on a borderline I would say he saidWhether you want to have betting companies involved in the big tournaments in our sport or not its hard to say whats right and whats wrong the Serb saidOne of the reasons why tennis is a popular and clean sport is because it has always valued its integrityDjokovic added I know that there is also many betting companies that on the websites are using the names the brands images of tournaments and players and matches in order to profit from that Tennis hasnt been really getting the piece of that cake if you know what I mean Its hard to say I dont have yet the stand and clear opinion about thatWorld number two Roger Federer also said it was difficult to guess the significance of the report but he welcomed the extra pressure that would now focus on matchfixersTheres more pressure on these people now maybe because of this story which is a good thing Federer saidNo names have yet been mentioned but 17time grand slam champion Federer would like to see an end to the speculationI would like to hear the name I would love to hear names Then at least its concrete stuff and you can actually debate about it Federer told reporters after his 62 61 62 firstround victory over Nikoloz BasilashviliWas it the player Was it the support team Who was it Was it before Was it a doubles player a singles player Which slam Its so all over the place Its nonsense to answer something that is pure speculationLike I said its super serious and its super important to maintain the integrity of our sport So how high up does it go The higher it goes the more surprised I would be no doubt about it Not about people being approached but just people doing it in generalI just think theres no place at all for these kind of behaviours and things in our sport I have no sympathy for those peopleAsked if tennis authorities could do more to prevent fixing Federer said You can always do more Its like I can always train more Theres always more you can doSo a story like this is only going to increase the pressure Hopefully theres more funding to it Thats about itSame as doping You have to be super aggressive in both areas no doubt about itFederer added Since we have the Integrity Unit it puts more pressure on them that a story like this broke againIts just really important that all the governing bodies and all the people involved take it very seriously that the players know about it Theres more pressure on these people now maybe because of this story which is a good thingAlso in 2007 Andy Murray spoke out over the presence of match fixing in the sport saying Its pretty disappointing for all the players but everyone knows it goes onOther players seemed unaware of any problems with corruption with both Serena Williams and Japans Kei Nishikori saying they hadnt noticed anything untoward I think that as an athlete I do everything I can to be not only great but you know historic If thats matchfixing going on I dont know about it Williams said after her firstround victory against Camila Giorgi