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By Paul Majendie
LONDON (Reuters) - An Internet bookmaking firm has contacted tennis authorities about unusual betting patterns after hefty sums were bet on a first round match at Wimbledon won by Britain's Richard Bloomfield.
The alert was raised by the online betting exchange Betfair after up to 340,000 pounds ($619,300) were traded on world number 89, Argentina's Carlos Berlocq, to lose just hours before he went down 6-1 6-2 6-2 to Bloomfield, ranked 259, in Tuesday's match.
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That was around 30 times as much as had been invested on similar matches between relatively unknown British players at the tournament.
But it was dwarfed by the six million pounds wagered on the first round match of Britain's Tim Henman, four times a semi-finalist at Wimbledon.
"We contacted the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Grand Slam Committee and the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) to make them aware of betting patterns before the Bloomfield match," said Betfair spokesman Tony Calvin.
He said Betfair had information-sharing agreements with both bodies who are co-regulators of the Wimbledon tournament "should they feel the need to investigate."
Calvin said Betfair was "able and willing to provide named information on these bettors should the need arise."
"Although the amounts involved were not unusual, the betting patterns were. Bloomfield was backed from an opening 1-2 on Betfair -- though other bookmakers were even shorter at 1-4 on Tuesday -- to a low of 1-10 pre-match and this led us to contact the International Tennis Federation," he said in a statement.
ITF executive director Bill Babcock confirmed to Reuters that the body had an agreement with Betfair to provide confidential information on betting patterns.
"In that agreement it is all confidential," he said. "We won't be commenting on any likely or possible investigations."
Bloomfield, who had never won a match on the main ATP tour before his Wimbledon victory, was asked at his post-match news conference if he had been tempted to put a bet on himself.
"Definitely not, No. I am not that kind of person," he told reporters.
"I've actually hardly had a bet in my life. I don't know how to play poker. So yeah, like I say, I'm not into that kind of stuff."
LONDON (Reuters) - An Internet bookmaking firm has contacted tennis authorities about unusual betting patterns after hefty sums were bet on a first round match at Wimbledon won by Britain's Richard Bloomfield.
The alert was raised by the online betting exchange Betfair after up to 340,000 pounds ($619,300) were traded on world number 89, Argentina's Carlos Berlocq, to lose just hours before he went down 6-1 6-2 6-2 to Bloomfield, ranked 259, in Tuesday's match.
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That was around 30 times as much as had been invested on similar matches between relatively unknown British players at the tournament.
But it was dwarfed by the six million pounds wagered on the first round match of Britain's Tim Henman, four times a semi-finalist at Wimbledon.
"We contacted the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Grand Slam Committee and the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) to make them aware of betting patterns before the Bloomfield match," said Betfair spokesman Tony Calvin.
He said Betfair had information-sharing agreements with both bodies who are co-regulators of the Wimbledon tournament "should they feel the need to investigate."
Calvin said Betfair was "able and willing to provide named information on these bettors should the need arise."
"Although the amounts involved were not unusual, the betting patterns were. Bloomfield was backed from an opening 1-2 on Betfair -- though other bookmakers were even shorter at 1-4 on Tuesday -- to a low of 1-10 pre-match and this led us to contact the International Tennis Federation," he said in a statement.
ITF executive director Bill Babcock confirmed to Reuters that the body had an agreement with Betfair to provide confidential information on betting patterns.
"In that agreement it is all confidential," he said. "We won't be commenting on any likely or possible investigations."
Bloomfield, who had never won a match on the main ATP tour before his Wimbledon victory, was asked at his post-match news conference if he had been tempted to put a bet on himself.
"Definitely not, No. I am not that kind of person," he told reporters.
"I've actually hardly had a bet in my life. I don't know how to play poker. So yeah, like I say, I'm not into that kind of stuff."
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