Vassallo's name still associated with match-fixing allegations
Vassallo denies any funny business
MELBOURNE -- You might think of Martin Vassallo Arguello as the forgotten man in the ATP's match-fixing investigation. The lower-ranked player's win over No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko in August in Poland, courtesy of Davydenko's third-set retirement, opened an unpleasant Pandora's box of suspicion.
Vassallo hasn't forgotten, though. No one will let him. Five months after the match, he still is asked about it whenever he plays at a major tournament. Monday, after he lost 6-1, 7-5, 6-1 to American wild-card entry Jesse Levine, he replied to a barrage of questions in a patient, mild voice.
"It's not easy for me to talk about, because I don't have many things to say," said Vassallo, 27. "I'm waiting also [for] the result and the conclusions of what was happening in that match, and why it was that that big amount of money involved.
Vassallo
"For me, it was just about getting onto the court, going against Davydenko, play a very good second set against him, and then, after a few minutes in the third set, he decided to retire. … Then afterwards, everything came out, and I was not even able to be happy about winning. I was not able to enjoy the best result of my career.''
The 77th-ranked Vassallo said investigators questioned him about his activities and people he might have spoken with around the time of the match, and asked him for cell phone records, which he provided.
Davydenko's actions during the match didn't seem strange, he said. "There was nothing weird, even the way he started to feel bad, started to have some blisters, then the ankle. Everything was normal. I was very surprised to find out the news the day after."
Vassallo has mixed emotions about the recent suspensions of two Italian players for gambling on tennis. He conceded they broke a rule but wondered why the ATP decided to sanction behavior that occurred two years ago. He also said the betting companies could be doing more to avert potential match-fixing.
"Closing some bet matches, putting a limit on the right amount -- there are many things they can do to help and not just put players out of the tournaments for a small thing," he said.
Vassallo's name cropped up in several other matches on a widely circulated list compiled by gambling analysts who flagged allegedly suspicious betting activity. He denied there was any funny business on his end.Vienna waits for you: U.S. Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe has asked Levine, currently No. 170, to be a practice partner when the team travels to Austria next month to begin its campaign for a second straight title.
Philosophy major: Hard-hitting 17-year-old Tamira Paszek of Austria has the baseline game of a seasoned player and a mature attitude to go along with it. She called her tense, elongated first-round loss to third-seeded Serbian Jelena Jankovic "the best match I ever played … definitely I feel down right now, three match points and 12-10 in the third set. It's a tough one. But I'm happy with my performance. I think it was not my time. It was not meant for me yet. I'm young, and I need to learn.''
Paszek said her recent parting with Gustavo Kuerten's former coach, Larri Passos, was amicable. "He did an unbelievable job with me, and I'm very happy we could leave in a good way," said the 39th-ranked Paszek, who now is working with Richard Brooks -- Jankovic's former hitting partner -- and Roland Santos.
Down goes Murray, down goes Murray: France's burly Jo-Wilfried Tsonga might not float like a butterfly, but he stung Great Britain's standardbearer, ninth-seeded Andy Murray, like a bee, with a 7-5, 6-4, 0-6, 7-6 (5) first-round upset. A photo of Tsonga is paired with one of a young Muhammad Ali in a tennis-look-alikes video making the rounds on the Internet, but he wasn't aware of it until a reporter told him. "Want me to give you a demo?" he said, playfully lifting one arm as if to flex.
Marathon man: No. 172 Sam Warburg, who, like Levine, came out of the U.S. college ranks, won the first five-set match he ever played Monday, defeating Juan Pablo Brzezicki of Argentina 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 to advance to the second round, where he will face Tsonga. It was the second consecutive endurance test for the 24-year-old Stanford University graduate, who survived a 14-12 third set in the final round of qualifying last Saturday.
Lady luck: Mardy Fish and his fiancée, Stacey Gardner, a model who appears on the game show "Deal or No Deal," have set a September wedding date. Fish, who beat Serbia's Boris Pashanski in four sets Monday, said his Davis Cup pals intend to host a bachelor party for him in Las Vegas, another sign of the vaunted unity on that team. Gardner isn't going to open cash-stuffed briefcases forever, though -- she holds a law degree and might go into sports law, Fish said.
Fish made his best Australian Open showing last year, when he fell to close friend Andy Roddick in the quarterfinals, and he hopes to defend those rankings points. He said he hasn't made up his mind whether he will compete in the Beijing Olympics this summer if he qualifies. A silver medalist four years ago in Athens, Fish said he is somewhat hesitant to make the lengthy trip in the middle of the U.S. hard-court season, so close to the U.S. Open.
Bonnie D. Ford covers tennis and Olympic sports for ESPN.com. E-mail her at bonniedford@aol.com.
Federer log
Federer
The French press corps induced Federer to disclose some of the gruesome details of the stomach ailment that sent him to the hospital last week and prompted him to skip his usual tune-up exhibition at Kooyong. "I'm rarely sick, so it was bizarre," he said.
He ran a fever and felt lousy for a couple of days. Federer said he probably could have toughed out the exo, but he said he didn't want to "answer all the questions" if he played poorly.
Chicken appears to have been the culprit, and Federer was asked if he ought to have a food taster. "Cleopatra had that, right?'' he said, smiling. "I don't think so. Not yet.''
--Bonnie D. Ford
New heat policy
Sharapova
Under the new rules, matches can be stopped once a set is complete. At Rod Laver Arena, the referee has the option of closing the retractable roof.
"I'm happy the Australian Open organizers listened to the players, because that's very important when you know your opinions are heard," Sharapova said.Last year, her three-set match against Camille Pin had to be completed in more than 100-degree heat in Rod Laver Arena. Under the policy in place at the time, any matches under way before temperatures reached dangerous levels had to be finished.
Sharapova, who was seeded No. 1, said she was delusional during the match, which she managed to win. She lost in the final to Serena Williams.
--AP
Australia's hope
Hewitt
"Every year is another year down the drain," Hewitt said. "[But] I'm only 26 at the moment."
Hewitt had his best shot in 2005, when he lost to Marat Safin in the final. Since then, he has been plagued by nagging injuries, falling in the second round in 2006 and the third round last year. But he thinks he's got a good shot this time.
"The body's been feeling really good the last couple of months," Hewitt said. "I'm hitting the ball pretty well in practice. If I take that into the match court, then I'll be feeling pretty confident."
--AP
Inbox
Bonnie D. Ford is on the grounds at the Australian Open for the two-week event. She'll have firsthand knowledge of everything that's transpiring Down Under. Send your questions to Bonnie here.