“Embarrassing” Fans criticize Mardy Fish and Bob Bryan for involvement in gambling leading to suspension from ITIA
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Bob Bryan and Mardy Fish
American former World No.7 Mardy Fish and arguably the greatest doubles player ever Bob Bryan became the main headlines of the tennis world but this time, it was not in a way the former American players would have wanted. ITIA (The International Tennis Integrity Agency) has caught both Americans for advertising gambling and many of the fans didn’t take it any softly.
The former players have now become tennis coaches. The ITIA has stated the reason for suspending them for 4 months and giving a fine of $10000 as “breaching tennis’ betting rules”. As per the reports from ITIA, both individuals gave full cooperation on the ITIA investigation, and immediately the posts they shared on social media were removed.
The notice states further that the suspensions will be coming into force only if there is a further breach during the four-month period starting from 11 November 2022. Both coaches are part of the 2022 US Davis Cup team. This means that they are considered “covered persons” and have to stick to the sport’s rules related to betting operators.
Many of tennis fans bashed the former American stars for giving a bad example to the youth. some quoted how much money they need after saving millions already on the court. Some section of fans and even players like Taylor Fritz came in support of the Americans as they told the reasons as not so convincing and even the official Tennis channel is sponsored by betting groups like “DraftKings”.
Related: “Politics win again!’ Mardy Fish harshly condemns Novak Djokovic’s absence from the 2022 US Open
USA’s long wait for a Davis Cup title continues as Mardy Fish led team lost to Italy
Mardy Fish led USA’s hopes of regaining the Tennis World Cup after 15 years was destroyed by Italy in the quarter-finals as they were beaten 1-2. In the first match of the tie, Frances Tiafoe lost against Lorenzo Sonego to give Italy a lead of 1-0. This was neutralized by Taylor Fritz‘s singles victory over Lorenzo Musetti to make the tie 1-1.
The decider hence turned out to be the doubles between the Italian Pair Fabio Fognini – Simone Bolelli and the American pair Jack Sock and Tommy Paul. As the American Pair failed to break at least once in the match, The Italian veterans won the match with ease (6-4,6-4).
Later in the tournament, Italy went on to lose against the eventual champions Canada in the semi-finals. Australia was beaten 0-2 in the finals making Canada the world champions for the first time in history.
The United States of America is the most successful team in Davis cup history with 32 wins. Second is Australia which dominated the tournament in the 1950s and 1960s with 15 wins in 18 years. Their overall tally is 28 wins. France and Great Britain share the third spot with 10 wins. The 2021 edition was won by Russia. 5-time champion Rafael Nadal is the most successful among active players in the tournament which is also known as the world cup of tennis.
Also Read: Sergiy Stakhovsky reveals how Roger Federer’s presence helped increasing prize money on the Tour
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Vipul Payattuparambil
(552 Articles Published)