Davydenko

Nikolay Davydenko, Russia’s world No. 4, was on Friday controversially fined by the ATP for not trying on the way to a defeat in St Petersburg this week.

Davydenko, still under investigation by the ATP after a loss in Poland in August that attracted suspicious betting patterns, was warned on court by the umpire during the second-round match in the Russian city on Thursday evening.

The top seed at the indoor tournament, took the opening set 6-1 against Marin Cilic, a Croatian teenager ranked outside the world’s top 100. However, in the second and third sets Davydenko’s error-count went up, including a number of double-faults, and the umpire, Belgian Jean-Philippe Dercq, rebuked him.

Davydenko was beaten 1-6, 7-5, 6-1, and on Friday the ATP announced they were fining him £1,000 for what the ruling body called “a lack of best effort”. To everyone else in tennis, that meant “tanking”, the term for not trying.

The player denied that he had eased up against Cilic, and said he had been astonished by the umpire’s warning. “I double-faulted to lose a game in the third set and he gave me a warning saying I was trying to lose on purpose. I was simply shocked to hear him say that. This is just outrageous. How does he know what I was trying to do,” he said.

“I was so upset with the whole thing I started crying. The reality is that I started feeling really tired. My legs were just dead by the third set. Maybe my problems are psychological; maybe it’s in my head.”

Britain’s Andy Murray, who came from a set down on Friday to beat Dmitry Tursunov 3-6, 7-6, 6-4, said he was surprised that Davydenko had been fined. “It doesn’t happen too often when guys get warned for not trying, so yes, of course, it does surprise me,” he said. “Davydenko is one of the best players in tight, close matches.”

The ATP is still looking into Davydenko’s defeat to Argentina’s Martin Vassallo Arguello at the Polish tournament. Davydenko retired from the third set after citing a foot injury, and Betfair, a gambling exchange, made void more than £3 million that had been wagered on the match.