October 10, 2007	Wednesday	Ramazan 27, 1428

LONDON, Oct 9: The four major organisations in professional tennis are joining together to keep corruption out of the sport.

Two months after the men’s tour began a probe into gambling on a match, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) said on Tuesday it is working with the ATP, the WTA Tour and the Grand Slam Committee to come up with a unified set of regulations to combat match-fixing and illegal betting.

“We have to keep the integrity of the matches,” ITF spokesman Bill Babcock said. “I think we have that, but we have this looming cloud now that we have to dissipate.”

Suspicions about match-fixing began after an online betting site, in an unprecedented move, voided bets on a match between fourth-ranked Nikolay Davydenko and 87th-ranked Martin Vassallo Arguello in Poland because of irregular betting patterns.

Davydenko withdrew from the Aug 2 match in the third set with a foot injury, and the ATP is conducting an investigation.

“Tennis is vulnerable,” said Babcock, who is also administrator of the Grand Slam Committee overseeing the sport’s four major tournaments.—AP