Novak Djokovic has flatly rubbished claims he took money to throw a match at the Paris Masters all the way back in 2007.
After revealing his team were offered $200,000 to fix a match, which he refused, Italian newspaper claimed Djokovic "voluntarily lost" a match against Fabrice Santoro at the Paris Masters in 2007, with the headline of the newspaper article reading "Djokovic wanted to lose."
Questions over the allegation were going to be on the forefront in Djokovic's press conference after his straight set win over Quentin Halys in the second round of the 2016 Australian Open on Wednesday.
Expectedly, Djokovic, bemused at these allegations more than anything and unaware that such a report was even published, rubbished them outright. "I remember that match," the world number one said. My response is that there's always going to be, especially these days when there is a lot of speculations, this is now the main story in tennis, in sports world, there's going to be a lot of allegations, so...
"I have nothing more to say. I said everything I needed to say two days ago. You know, until somebody comes out with the real proof and evidence, it's only a speculation for me."
Pressed further on the issue and asked to elaborate on the allegation over that particular match, Djokovic added: "What it is to say? I've lost that match. I don't know if you're trying to create a story about that match or for that matter any of the matches of the top players losing in the early rounds, I think it's just absurd.
"Anybody can create a story about any match. That's my point. There hasn't been too many matches where top players lost in last decade or so in early rounds. You can pick any match that you like that the top player lost and just create a story out of it.
"I think it's not supported by any kind of proof, any evidence, any facts. It's just speculation. So I don't think there is a story about it. It's [the allegation is] not true."
Djokovic, who was the higher ranked player at the time, lost the match to 6-3, 6-2 to Santoro, but that was largely down to the fact that he had just had his wisdom teeth removed, with the Serbian, at the time, saying: "I couldn't give my 100%, not even 30% of my possibilities. I'm still on medications. I didn't practice for a whole week. I only started practising two days ago. Physically, I'm not feeling at all good."
The report claimed the story was found in documents that were a part of a fixing investigation in Cremona, even if that is about all the evidence they gave. The report, though, also insisted the Serbian was not being investigated.
The sport has been thrown into turmoil after BBC and Buzzfeed released a report claiming fixing was a major problem in mainstream tennis, with several top players, including Gran Slam winners, involved.
