Tennis Integrity Unit reveals 65 'match alerts' received in third quarter of 2017 of suspicious betting patterns

This is down on the same period last year when 96 alerts from betting regulators and gambling organisations with which the unit has ‘memorandums of understanding’.

Four of the alerts related to matches on the ATP World Tour, with one on the WTA circuit. None was from the US Open.

The TIU has already confirmed that one of the ATP matches was the Winston-Salem Open clash between Alexandr Dolgopolov and Thiago Monteiro in August when Dolgopolov's odds drifted dramatically before the match. He has denied any wrongdoing. Details of the others are not known.

A further 26 alerts were from the ATP Challenger Tour, 24 from men’s ITF Futures events and 10 from the women’s ITF Pro Circuit.

With 35,349 professional matches played during the period, 0.18 per cent of matches were the subject of an alert, which is not in itself evidence of match-fixing. For example, unusual betting patterns could be due to a player injury.

The cumulative figure for alerts in 2017 is now 148, down from 217 for the same 2016 period.

The TIU started publishing such figures last year in a bid to be more transparent following a BBC/Buzzfeed investigation into alleged match-fixing in tennis in January 2016.

That investigation led to tennis' governing bodies setting up an independent review panel to look into all aspects of integrity in the sport.

It has been due to publish an interim report in the spring but the TIU now says it now expected “before the end of 2017”. No reason for the delay has been given.

The TIU also announced on Friday that detailed disciplinary decisions will now be published in full for the first time, although some content will be redacted to protect witnesses or if it is related for ongoing or associated cases.