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"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;LONDON (AP) -- Tennis officials are assessing reports of irregular betting on a first-round match between Richard Bloomfield and Christophe Rochus at the Hall of Fame grass-court tournament in Newport, R.I.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Online gambling exchange Betfair told The Associated Press on Friday that Tuesday's match attracted an unusual $1.5 million in wagers and was the subject of dramatic price movement.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Britain's Bloomfield won the match 7-6 (1), 6-3.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Bloomfield, ranked No. 552, was rated even money against his 160th-ranked Belgian opponent. In the hours before the match, the odds on Bloomfield winning shortened to 1-4. After he won the first set, the odds shorted to 1-8.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\"If people are willing to risk 4 pounds to win one, that is indicative of a substantial gamble,\" Betfair spokesman Tony Calvin said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Notification of the irregular betting pattern was made to the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU), an independent body created by the sport's governing bodies to lead the fight against corruption.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It is standard procedure for the betting industry to share irregular activity on its markets with the TIU.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\"It is not operational policy of the TIU to make any comment about an investigation that it may or may not be involved in,\" TIU spokesman Mark Harrison told the AP.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Harrison was responding to a report in Britain's Daily Mail on Friday that an investigation was to be launched into the betting on the Bloomfield-Rochus match.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;An investigation represents a significant step and would involve the TIU asking Betfair to pass on information on specific bets laid on the match.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Bloomfield advanced to the semifinals at Newport on Friday after beating American Ryan Harrison 5-7, 7-6 (3), 7-5.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The 27-year-old Bloomfield was also caught up in a betting controversy in 2006, when his 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Argentina's Carlos Berlocq in the first round at Wimbledon was investigated following irregular patterns.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\"It's something I don't know what to say,\" Bloomfield said. \"I know England's a big betting nation. It seems like everytime I win a decent match that comes up. I really don't know what to say.\"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;No conclusion was reached by authorities about the match. There is no suggestion Bloomfield is implicated in the irregular betting surrounding his victory over Rochus on Tuesday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The TIU has reached just one conclusion into a corruption investigation. In January, it fined Russian Ekaterina Bychkova $5,000 and barred her from playing for 30 days, saying she failed to report that she was asked to provide inside information and throw matches.&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.si.com/tennis/2010/07/09/newport-betting>