Influencing matches on the ATP circuit? Two world-class players are suspects

Influencing sports matches will probably not just disappear from the world, especially from tennis. According to the German TV station ZDF , two players from the wider world’s top players, Aslan Karatsev and Nikoloz Basilashvili, are also involved in such a case.

Aslan Karatsev is a twenty-eight-year-old tennis player from Russia. He is currently ranked 40th in the ATP rankings. His greatest sporting achievement is his participation in the semifinals of the Australian Open in 2021.

Nikoloz Basilashvili is a 30-year-old tennis player from Georgia. He is ranked 25th on the ATP rankings, with his career high being 16th place in May 2019. He is therefore definitely one of the more experienced players that we can regularly see on the ATP circuit.

What do these two players have in common? Both have been guided by coach Yahor Yatsyk in the past. He coached Basilashvili between 2013 and 2014, and worked with Karatsev between 2018 and 2021. He had offered both of them several times a sum of money if they “dropped” their matches.

“For years he has been involved in influencing and working with people involved in fraud in Russia and Eastern Europe. He always has a large sum of money on him and is looking for young players who are in trouble. Whether financial or psychological,” said one of the active coaches, who did not wish to be named, and whose words are quoted by the Czech server Tenisový svět.

Basilashvili was said to have influenced matches as early as 2013, but his doubles match with Albot is also under investigation. They lost to the pair of Fucsovics – Travaglia at Wimbledon last year. A considerable amount of money was bet on their loss at the time, which was said to be close to half a million US dollars.

Karatsev was to influence the doubles matches at the Challengers in Finland (2019) and Kazakhstan (2020). However, the ITIA is also to investigate this year’s match in Stuttgart, which he and Erlich lost to the pair of Bopanna – Shapovalov after sets 6::4 and 6::0.

It will certainly be very interesting to see how the whole case will turn out. If the players are found guilty, they may not play any more tournaments on the ATP circuit.

Sources: ZDF, ATP