'It made me feel terrible' - Throwback to when Novak Djokovic was offered $200,000 to fix match

Novak Djokovic has won the most men’s singles titles in tennis history.

One of the darkest days in tennis history was when Novak Djokovic spoke about the fixing allegations in the sport, bringing to light one of the biggest controversies that took place when Djokovic himself was a teenager, back in 2007.

In a televised program in 2016, the BBC, in collaboration with BuzzFeed, released a report alleging that 16 top 50 players, more than eight of whom were participating in the 2007 Australian Open, have been flagged multiple times for match-fixing, but have continued to play without discipline from the Tennis Integrity Unit.

In an attempt to put all rumouurs to bed and come up with a clean chit, Novak Djokovic attended a press conference on Monday (in 2016), wherein he confessed that he was approached indirectly by people who worked with him with, an offer of $200,000 to throw a first round match in a 2007 tournament in St. Petersburg, but Novak Djokovic turned down the offer.

He said, “Unfortunately there were some, in those times, those days, rumors, some talks, some people were going around. They were dealt with. In the last six, seven years, I haven’t heard anything similar. I personally was never approached directly, so I have nothing more to say about that.” The Serb added that no such cases have repeated since 2007 and that the BBC report was nothing more than mere speculation.

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Speaking about how the entire incident made him feel, he said, “It made me feel terrible because I don’t want to be anyhow linked to this. Somebody may call it an opportunity. For me, that’s an act of unsportsmanship, a crime in sport, honestly. I don’t support it. I think there is no room for it in any sport, especially in tennis.”

He further added, “I always have been taught and have been surrounded with people that had nurtured and, you know, respected the sport’s values. That’s the way I’ve grown up. Fortunately for me, I didn’t need to, you know, get directly involved in these particular situations” said Novak Djokovic further stressing on his integrity towards the sport.

The incident enraged several greats of the game, including the otherwise calm, and composed Roger Federer. “I mean, it’s, like, who, what? It’s, like, thrown around. It’s so easy to do that,” he said in a rare state of agitation.

Federer added, “I would like to hear the name. I would love to hear names. Then at least it’s concrete stuff and you can actually debate about it. Was it the player? Was it the support team? Who was it? Was it before? Was it a doubles player, a singles player? Which slam? It’s so all over the place. It’s nonsense to answer something that is pure speculation.

“It’s super serious and it’s super important to maintain the integrity of our sport. So how high up does it go? The higher it goes, the more surprised I would be, no doubt about it. Not about people being approached, but just people doing it in general. I just think there’s no place at all for this kind of behaviour in our sport. I have no sympathy for those people”, added the Swiss Legend.

The controversy hit round one match which underwent fixing allegations in the 2007 Australian Open was eventually won by the then 19-year-old Novak Djokovic, with a 6–3, 6–2, 6–4 win over South Korea’s Chung Hyeon. Years later, Djokovic looks to expand his glory as he faces the young sensation, Carlos Alcaraz on 14th July to win his eighth Wimbledon.

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