With strict rules in place, there’s no place for corruption in tennis. And, governing bodies like the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) have made it very clear that unjust behavior and corrupt practices will lead to strict punishments. Hence, recently, as a major fixing scandal came to light, the 31-year-old Thai player Jatuporn Na Lamphun, who was involved, faced the wrath for his actions.

On September 15, it was revealed that Na Lamphun has received a lifetime ban from the sport, along with a fine of $115,000 for corrupt practices on the tour. He was found guilty of offenses under the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program (TACP), where he was involved in match fixing of 22 encounters in 2023 and 2024. The 31-year-old was involved in monetary transactions in 18 of those matches and did not even cooperate with the ITIA for the investigation. As a result, he was banned for life and will never be seen playing again. Surprisingly, the same player had also received an 18-month suspension back in 2016 for similar reasons.

Na Lamphun is currently unranked and hasn’t played this year (after being provisionally suspended since December 2024). The Thai star didn’t reply to the sanction, nor did he appeal it to an independent Anti-Corruption Hearing Officer (AHO). Thus, he has accepted the ban, and his tennis career has come to a dramatic end.

With the ban, Na Lamphun cannot even coach or attend a tennis event which is authorized or sanctioned by the members of the ITIA (ATP, ITF, WTA, Tennis Australia, Fédération Française de Tennis, Wimbledon, and USTA) or any national association.

Meanwhile, Na Lamphun isn’t the only star who has faced consequences for his actions lately. Even the former Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt faced the wrath of the ITIA.

Lleyton Hewitt punished for allegedly pushing volunteer

Even though Hewitt retired long ago and played an active role in the team, he was involved in an unfortunate incident. Hewitt, who has been staying active on the tour, recently captained Australia’s Davis Cup team. He has alleged that ‘manipulated’ video evidence was used to depict an incident where he shoved a doping official during last year’s semi-finals.

Following this, he received a  $30,000 fine along with a two-week ban and remained committed to a lost cause. Meanwhile, the ITIA’s CEO Karen Moorhouse said, “Anti-doping personnel play a fundamental role behind the scenes in upholding the integrity of tennis, and they should be able to go about their roles without fear of physical contact. In this case, that line was clearly crossed, and we had no other option but to take action.“

Though Hewitt cried foul and claimed that the video had been manipulated, this masthead has contacted Hewitt’s lawyers for clarification on their manipulation claim. The 44-year-old was able to serve as captain for the qualifier, with his ban set to run from September 24 to October 7. Hewitt will not be allowed to take part “in all tennis-related activities, including coaching, mentoring, playing, captaincy and other associated roles” during the suspension.