Betting on Bernard Tomic matches, including Australian Open qualifier, probed by police

Two matches played by Australian tennis player Bernard Tomic were the target of an ultimately fruitless suspicious betting investigation.

Suspicious betting on two Bernard Tomic tennis matches prompted authorities to begin investigations into gambling on the matches, though three years on, the cases have led to no charges and the investigations ran cold.

The revelations were published in The Age and Sydney Morning Herald on Friday.

Those mastheads report Tomic’s failed qualification bid for the 2022 Australian Open garnered suspicious bets. The Australian’s other match was in Turkey in late 2021.

Bernard Tomic lost in round one of this year’s Australian Open. Picture: NewsWire / Dan Peled

The International Tennis Integrity Agency interviewed Tomic and seized his phone as part of the probe, The Age and SMH reported.

The suspicious bets were allegedly placed by three NSW men with four betting agencies and resulted in payouts between $10,000 and $180,000.

One bookmaker refused to pay out and alerted Tennis Australia about the suspicious activity.

Tomic’s failed attempt to qualify for the 2022 Australian Open was the target of police investigations over suspicious bets. Picture: NewsWire / Diego Fedele

Tennis Australia made the International Tennis Integrity Agency, and police, aware. From there, detectives felt the need to pull together a full strike force, led by NSW Police but with help from Victoria, Queensland, and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission.

Tomic declined to comment when approached by The Age and SMH about the investigations.

Tomic is ranked 212 in the world. Heading into the 2022 Australian Open, he was 257th in the world.

Tomic and his girlfriend Vanessa Sierra shared their two-week hotel quarantine experience in early 2021 in great detail with NewsWire. Picture: Supplied via NewsWire

He attempted to qualify for the Australian Open and faced higher-ranked and bookmakers’ favourite Roman Safiullin, of Russia. Tomic lost 6-1, 6-4 and complained to the umpire about being positive for Covid.

The other match under a spotlight from state and international agencies was an earlier contest in Turkey. Tomic lost 6-0, 6-1 in that match to Frenchman Quentin Halys.

The bets in question were variously placed on the outcome of an individual game or set, the number of sets, and at least two bets were placed after the match started. Police found one of the men who placed the bets signed a relative of Tomic’s into a casino as a guest in 2020. The Age and SMH report no further links between the gamblers and Tomic than this casino connection.

They also stated that there was no suggestion of any criminal conduct by Tomic, only that he was the subject of inquiries.

Originally published as Betting on Bernard Tomic matches, including Australian Open qualifier, probed by police