Tennis draws are often funny–featuring coincidental matchups that many would call “rigged.” One notable example is John Isner and Nicolas Mahut being pitted against each other in the 2011 Wimbledon first round one year after contesting the longest match in tennis history.
This coming week’s example isn’t as noteworthy, but it’s certainly interesting to see Nikoloz Basilashvili and Aslan Karatsev going head-to-head in round one of the Hamburg European Open.
Basilashvili and Karatsev are the two players who were recently accused of match fixing in a report made by the German publication ZDF. Belarusian coach Yegor Yatsyk is at the center of the controversy and he has worked with both players in the past. Basilashvili and Karatsev are alleged to have participated in Yatsyk’s match-fixing scheme, although there is obviously no proof at the moment with an investigation either underway or pending.
“I haven’t heard anything about it,” Karatsev responded when asked about it by Russian media. “I don’t know what you are talking about. And should I comment on this nonsense? How many times have they written such things about me? Have I ever been convicted?”
Basilashvili was well aware of the accusations and came back firing in a statement.
“Last weekend, it came to my attention that media publications in Germany have made mention of my name in connection with allegations of so-called ‘Match Fixing,'” the world No. 25 said. “These allegations have no basis at all and I reject them in the strongest possible terms. I have empowered a German law firm to protect my interests and to act in every possible way to fight this extremely damaging misinformation.”
Basilashvili and Karatsev will be squaring off for the first time in their careers on the main tour but for the seventh time overall. The German is 5-1 in their six meetings on the Challenger and Futures circuits. They have not faced each other since 2014.
who ya got?