Bernard Tomic was investigated over suspect gambling on two of his matches.Credit: Matt Absalom-Wong
Detectives launched a multi-agency strike force focused on Australian tennis star Bernard Tomic to probe possible match fixing after uncovering suspicious wagering on two matches involving the former world No. 17, including one at the 2022 Australian Open.
Police strike force Whyman was launched in early 2022 after suspicious bets were made via online bookmakers on an Australian Open qualifying match between Tomic and Russian player Roman Safiullin, and another match the controversial Australian sportsman played in Turkey a few months earlier.
The police probe ended after months of investigation failed to produce enough evidence to sustain criminal charges, enabling Tomic to continue playing on the international tennis circuit, including his unsuccessful effort last week to qualify for this year’s Australian Open.
This masthead has also confirmed that the sport’s anti-graft body, the International Tennis Integrity Agency, conducted its own investigation, seizing Tomic’s phone and quizzing him in connection with the matter.
Two sources said the independent agency’s investigation had moved to a “dormant” phase and it would take no further action in the absence of further information.
A Tennis Australia spokesman confirmed its anti-corruption officers co-operated with domestic and international authorities to probe the suspect betting.
“Tennis Australia’s integrity team has worked with the ITIA and law enforcement agencies since first alerted to concerns relating to betting activity in tennis,” the spokesman said.
“[Tennis Australia] integrity’s role in any investigation has predominantly been one of support throughout. We have been advised there is no current police investigation into this matter.”
Bernard Tomic leaves the practice court at this year’s Australian Open.Credit: Chris Hopkins
Five sources with knowledge of the police probe, but who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they had not been authorised to talk publicly, said detectives investigated suspicious successful wagering by three NSW men who authorities suspected were linked to Tomic either directly or via a close relative.
The same Australian gamblers placed suspicious bets on both matches. The winnings from the suspect betting ranged from payouts of $10,000 to $180,000 and police believed they may have involved up to four sports bookmaking firms: Ladbrokes, Palmer Bet, PointsBet and Bet Right.
At least one of the firms refused to pay out the winnings because of integrity concerns, instead alerting Tennis Australia about its suspicions that bets were laid using inside information.
The sports body immediately alerted police and the ITIA, with detectives deciding to launch a strike force after a period of intensive intelligence gathering and analysis.
When contacted through an associate, Tomic declined to discuss the investigation with a reporter. The three gamblers tied to the suspect betting could not be reached for comment, although one of the trio attended the Australian Open this week.
Tennis Australia said the punter “was the plus one of an invited guest and was not accredited”.
There is no suggestion by this masthead that Tomic is guilty of any criminal conduct, only that he was the subject of inquiries by the strike force and separately by tennis authorities.
The formation of a police strike force only occurs in the event of serious criminal suspicions that require the concentration of resources and specialist investigative capacity. NSW Police led strike force Whyman with assistance from Victorian and Queensland police and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, the sources said. Police also briefed Australia’s peak sports integrity agency, Sport Integrity Australia, and the ITIA.
Launching a strike force does not guarantee criminal charges. Investigations often produce no results because of insufficient evidence to sustain a prosecution or a finding that suspects are not involved in wrongdoing. No criminal charges followed the Whyman investigation.
NSW Police declined to answer questions about what evidence the strike force uncovered, why it was shut down or whether it ultimately cleared those initially under suspicion.
A NSW police spokesperson said only that the force did not have a current investigation into tennis match-fixing.
The 2022 Australian Open match under scrutiny involved a straight sets loss by Tomic in the opening round of qualifying, who suggested in a mid-match outburst that he was struggling with COVID-19.
Trailing 2-1 at the change of ends in the second set, Tomic told the chair umpire he was physically hampered.
“For sure in the next two days I will test positive, I’m telling you. I’m telling you,” Tomic said. “I will buy you dinner if I don’t test positive in three days. Otherwise you buy me dinner,” Tomic said.
Tomic was criticised after the match– he went down 6-1, 6-4 – for his lacklustre performance, but two days after the qualifier he told reporters he was in isolation having tested positive for COVID-19.
He told a reporter at the time: “Due to the illness, I just couldn’t fire on all cylinders. As much as I tried, I didn’t have the energy to fight. I’m going to do everything it takes to get back to the top.”
The Russian was a clear favourite in the Melbourne Park AO match, as was Tomic’s opponent in the second match that was under scrutiny, Frenchman Quentin Halys. Halys demolished Tomic in straight sets– 6-0, 6-1 – during a match in Istanbul in 2021.
Tomic speaks to the umpire during his Australian Open match against Russian Roman Safiullin in 2022.Credit: Getty Images
After Tomic’s loss to Roman Safiullin in Australia, at least two bookmakers flagged suspicious bets with Tennis Australia’s integrity team, which, in turn, passed the information on to the ITIA.
Bet Right chief executive Anthony Waller said his company emailed tennis integrity officials at 7.30pm on the night of Tomic’s Australian Open qualifying loss in 2022.
“We saw something unusual, we took it upon ourselves to contact TA directly and, to their credit, Tennis Australia returned serve at 11pm … that’s pretty good,” he said. “Tennis Australia took it very seriously, they did something about it, and it went down its normal course.”
Waller said the company had then co-operated with state police, state crime command and the organised crime squad/gaming.
He said that one of the bets was to win a five-figure amount by correctly predicting the number of sets in the match, but the eventual payout was halved.
He told this masthead that, out of fairness to the other clients, all losing bets were refunded given that some bets had been flagged as suspicious.
“We identified suspicious transactions, we raised it with Tennis Australia, we deemed it was a suspicious market, we paid out those who had won, we paid out anyone who had lost and co-operated with police.”
Ladbrokes, PointsBet and Palmerbet declined to comment.
Tomic was demolished in a game in Turkey in 2021
One bookmaker had red-flagged one “high stakes” client after the Tomic match in Istanbul. High stakes clients consistently place bets of between $10,000 and $100,000.
Two gambling industry sources, speaking anonymously to detail confidential information, confirmed the client’s account was closed by one bookmaker. Both sources also confirmed that at least one of the bets over the two matches was not simply placed on the outcome of a match but the outcome of a single game or set, and at least two of the bets were placed after the match had started.
Those bets are now close to impossible to place in Australia, as any bets placed once a match has started cannot be conducted online and must be phoned through to an individual bookmaker.
According to official sources, the multi-agency police investigation aimed to uncover evidence to corroborate the suspicions that arose from a detailed betting analysis. A key line of inquiry involved trying to connect the NSW gamblers who had placed the suspect bets to Tomic or his close associates.
One of the records obtained by police revealed one of the targets had signed a close relative of Tomic into a casino as a guest in 2020.
Tomic was interviewed by tennis authorities who also demanded and were given access to his mobile phone.
Sources told this masthead there was division among some agencies about how to progress the investigation, with some detectives eager to arrest Tomic to question him but other officials concerned that legal advice had suggested there was insufficient evidence to support such a move.
Police also discussed using the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission’s coercive powers to compel suspects to answer questions in secret hearings.
The ITIA’s inquiry into Tomic and the suspicious betting involved a separate non-criminal inquiry process. The ITIA uses contractual relationships that require professional players to help its investigators. Tomic was interviewed under these powers.
An ITIA spokesperson said the body did not comment on individuals, matches or investigations “for operational reasons”.
One source briefed on the interview said Tomic appeared “cocky and confident” when approached by investigators.
The probe into Tomic was undertaken during an intensely busy period for the ITIA. Tennis has been wracked by match-fixing scandals overseas, sparked by the surge in online gambling platforms that allow punters to place wagers on various outcomes during matches, including those at the lower levels of the sport.
The international tennis touring circuit involves more than 50,000 matches a year around the globe, with many lower-rung professional players struggling to make much money and, as a result, susceptible to approaches from betting syndicates seeking inside information or to corrupt the outcome of a game.
A decision by the International Tennis Federation to enable gambling, including in real time, on lower-level non-televised games in 2016 sparked a multibillion-dollar surge in betting.
The ITF justified the move because it increased revenue streams in the game, but an independent review warned in 2018 that the arrangement posed a risk to the integrity of the sport.
Tomic’s appearance at the Australian Open last week was his first at the event since the 2022 game that sparked the police probe.
Tomic in action at this year’s Australian Open during his qualifying tournament loss.Credit: Getty Images
His comeback lasted just over an hour; he was well beaten by Slovakian Jozef Kovalik in 61 minutes.
Just over two years ago, Tomic was ranked 825 in the world. He has worked hard to drag his ranking back to 214.
In 2023, Tomic earned just over $100,000 playing in lower-level events across the Americas and Asia, winning a minor competition in India but failing to achieve the results that previously led to his being seen as one of the great emerging hopes of Australian tennis. He made a quarter-final run at Wimbledon in 2011.
