Not enough to proceed
It has come to light that police investigated suspicious betting activity relating to two tennis matches involving Bernard Tomic, including one during the 2022 Australian Open.
The authorities first became aware of the matter after sportsbooks noticed irregular patterns for an Australian Open qualifying round involving Tomic and Roman Safiullin. The other match took place a few months earlier in Turkey.
dropped the case due to insufficient evidence to proceed with criminal charges
Despite investigating the matter for numerous months, detectives dropped the case due to insufficient evidence to proceed with criminal charges.
Tomic has returned to professional tennis, now sitting at 212 in the world rankings, well off his career-best ranking of 17. His latest action saw him lose in the first qualification round for the current Australian Open.
Big money
The Sydney Morning Herald reported some specifics of the probe into Tomic, citing five anonymous sources who are close to the investigation. The authorities looked into three New South Wales men with connections to Tomic for placing successful bets on the two games under the spotlight.
Tomic lost in straight sets in the Grand Slam qualification match and said mid-game that he was dealing with COVID-19. He also lost the other match in question in straight sets to Quentin Halys; both opponents were the betting favorites ahead of their matches.
winnings ranged between AU$10,000 (US$6,204) and AU$180,000 (US$111,681)
The betting winnings ranged between AU$10,000 (US$6,204) and AU$180,000 (US$111,681), potentially involving four of the country’s biggest sportsbooks. The wagers instantly drew suspicion from Bet Right, leading to an alert being sent to Tennis Australia about the possible use of insider information and prompting the police strike force.
Details of the wagers
Bet Right Chief Executive Anthony Wale said one of the wagers correctly predicted the number of sets the match would last and generated a five-figure profit. The operator ultimately only paid out half the wager.
Some of the bets related to the outcomes of specific sets or games, with several wagers placed in play after the action began.