Match-fixing in tennis has been a long-standing problem, with allegations and documented incidents dating back to at least the early 2000s, and likely occurring even earlier. Over the years, several cases have stood out for their scale and impact. And now, in this discussion, we will focus on three of the biggest match-fixing scandals in the history of tennis.

The first major scandal is the 2016 BBC and BuzzFeed News investigation. In January of that year, the two outlets dropped a bombshell, publishing leaked documents that alleged widespread match-fixing at the highest levels of professional tennis, activity that authorities had allegedly known about but failed to act on.

According to the report, a core group of 16 players who had all reached the top 50 in the world were repeatedly flagged to the Tennis Integrity Unit (now the ITIA) over suspicions that they had deliberately thrown matches, including matches played at Wimbledon. The investigation also exposed the deeper problem behind the scenes. Russian and Italian betting syndicates were reportedly placing bets worth hundreds of thousands of pounds on these suspect matches, yet the TIU declined to pursue formal investigations. Legal advice had suggested that offenses committed before 2009 couldn’t be prosecuted under the sport’s updated anti-corruption code.

Although no players were publicly named, the story dominated headlines and sent shockwaves through the tennis world, ultimately forcing the sport’s governing bodies to commission an independent review of their anti-corruption efforts.

The second major scandal centers on the 2007 match involving then, world No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko and Martín Vassallo Argüello in Sopot, Poland. Played in August 2007, the match quickly became a turning point in tennis’s battle with match-fixing. Red flags went up when an astonishing amount of money (more than $7 million) was wagered on the lower-ranked Argüello to win, much of it coming from Russian-based betting accounts, even after Davydenko took the first set.

The situation escalated when Davydenko retired in the third set with an injury, prompting betting companies like Betfair to void all wagers and alert the ATP to the suspicious activity. The ATP responded with a year-long investigation that examined both the match itself and the broader network of gamblers involved.

Although both players were ultimately cleared due to a lack of concrete evidence, the case laid bare how exposed professional tennis was to betting syndicates and underscored the sport’s much deeper corruption problem.

The third major scandal is the Grigor Sargsyan global syndicate, a case uncovered through a sweeping investigation by Belgian police. At the center was Grigor Sargsyan, an Armenian immigrant living in Brussels, who allegedly built what many consider the largest match-fixing operation in modern tennis history.

His network operated quietly but efficiently, targeting vulnerable corners of the sport far from the main tour spotlight. Sargsyan recruited more than 180 professional players, mostly lower-ranked competitors on the ITF World Tennis Tour who were struggling financially, and paid them to manipulate portions of matches. He then cashed in by betting on those fixed outcomes.

The investigation, fueled by wiretaps and extensive surveillance, resulted in dozens of suspensions and lifetime bans, including those handed to Egyptian brothers Karim and Youssef Hossam, who fixed at least 20 matches between them. The case exposed just how widespread match-fixing had become at tennis’s lower levels, where limited prize money leaves players especially vulnerable to corruption.