There we go again. After rumours of involvement in tennis betting of former world n.1 Yevgeny Kafelnikov, another Russian star’s reputation is threatened by scandals. Nikolay Davydenko is at the centre of gambling investigation, after his suspect retirement in the first round of Sopot, a claycourt tournament held last month in Poland.

Davidenko was playing against Argentine Martin Vassallo Arguello. The match was at the third set when the Russian retired due to a foot injury. The suspects raised after agency Betfair declaired that the match recorded an amount of more than 10 million euros in betting. Ten times more than usual, for a first round. Besides, Vassallo, now ranked 73rd, was given favourite against one of the top claycourt specialists…

Russian tennis players have always had a restless relationship with money and “business class life”. Kafelnikov, the Prince, was well known to be as lazy on a tennis court as dynamic in his private, Medvedev had a new car every three or four months, Safin, well, through his career he has chased more women than tennis balls… But could you expect that a guy like Davydenko, who looks like an employee more than a top-ten player, would sell his matches for a fistful of money?