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Players Approached To Throw Matches

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The Associated Press

Published: January 15, 2008

MELBOURNE, Australia - Five or six players on the WTA Tour have been approached to throw tennis matches, tour chairman Larry Scott told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

"I've said several initially, and I think five or six would be in the ballpark," Scott said. "I don't want to go into any more details because it's part of an investigation.

"But we were surprised by the amount of gambling on tennis in general, and the number of players approached."

Scott said the WTA has determined that no matches have been affected by gambling. And he also has threatened any player involved with gambling on matches with a life ban.

"We're very pleased about a couple of things," Scott said. "One, that the players have been responsible and shared the information, and secondly, that from what we have seen so far, there is no proof that there has been any corruption by the players or anyone around the players.

"While this represents a significant threat that got our attention, it also caused us to focus in a different way, in a more intense way, to get ahead of the curve, be proactive and to prevent the threat from becoming a problem."

Djokovic Is Businesslike, Then Jokes After Win

MELBOURNE, Australia - Novak Djokovic gives a different kind of impression on the court.

Most players have been asked for their impression of the new, blue Plexicushion courts at Melbourne Park.

After Djokovic beat Benjamin Becker 6-0, 6-2, 7-6 (5) today in his first-round match at the Australian Open, the television commentator implored Djokovic to do one of his impressions of another player - specifically Maria Sharapova - that have generated huge attention on YouTube.

At first, he resisted - "I don't want to offend anybody," he said.

But he soon gave in and did a reasonable imitation, right down to the Russian player's tendency to brush strands of her long blonde hair back over her ears as she prepares to serve.

The crowd gave him a standing ovation.

Third-ranked Djokovic raced through the first set in just 22 minutes.

On Monday, Lindsay Davenport lost the second set but recovered in the deciding set to win her first-round match 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 against Sara Errani,

Davenport will face No. 5-seed Sharapova in the second round.

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