Really, 150 “suspicious” matches in tennis?

No way man… no freakin’ way. I’m sorry, but I’m calling tennis out for doing what it is: getting PR. Seriously, every sport in America, including track and field and golf, are caught up in issues of cheating, steroids, and gambling; and if your sport isn’t being associated with this crap, your sport isn’t worth a damn. So when I saw the report on SI.com that over 150 matches are under suspicion, I had to call shenanagins. I had to.

I mean, come on. There is no way gamblers and cheaters are smart enough to keep a gambling ring under wraps for over 50 matches, let alone 150. To me, it all comes down to the fact that someone always screws up. Always. And I’m not the only skeptic:

My hunch, having seen no data and only read this article, is that the number of rigged tennis matches will ultimately turn out to be very small. My reason for this conclusion is that there is something absent from tennis that is present in sumo wrestling: a highly non-linear incentive scheme.
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The lack of incentive for tennis players to trade wins has to mean that endemic cheating is far less likely. The fact that betting markets are small — especially on unimportant matches– also makes it more difficult to cheat, because big bets will stick out like a sore thumb. In key matches, the prize money stakes are so high that rigging is unlikely.

If you’ve never read Freakonomics, what Levitt is getting to is that essentially match fixing is very unlikely in a sport where the incentive for winning each match is progressively so high; also that the only matches where someone could come out on top for throwing the game are so minor that, really, who give a flying dog turd.

Tennis only wishes that 150+ matches were dirty. Sorry guys, the good scandals only go to the big boys… well played though. Well played.

• 150 suspicious matches being probed (SI.com)
• Will Tennis Players Make Sumo Wrestlers Look Like Schoolgirls? (Freakonomics)