SOURCE: Canadian Press

(Melbourne, Australia) — Tennis Australia has evicted state betting agency, Tabcorp, from the grounds of next year's Australian Open, a dramatic move amid reports of betting anomalies on the men's pro circuit and claims of attempted match-fixing.

Tabcorp will no longer be allowed to operate a betting agency at Melbourne Park during the Open, Tennis Australia chief executive Steve Wood told guests at the tournament launch Tuesday.

"We have zero tolerance for gambling and we'll be providing additional security measures during the Australian Open to monitor the environment," Wood said.

"That revolves around the officials, the players, the people who are involved with the tournament and we're making that very clear, and providing education programs and letting everybody know of our antigambling policies.

"We'll also not be having any gambling on site, which we've had in the past. I just think it's the right move to have the right environment where we're not promoting gambling on site."

The governing body of men's professional tennis, the ATP, is currently investigating betting irregularities in a match between Nikolay Davydenko and Martin Vassallo Arguello in Poland in July. Davydenko withdrew from the match in the third set with a foot injury.

More recently, Belgium's Gilles Elseneer said he was offered US$114,000 to lose a first-round match against Potito Starace of Italy at Wimbledon in 2005.

Serbian Novak Djokovic has claimed he was offered US$255,000 to lose a first-round match in St. Petersburg, Russia, last year.