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(Sports)Aussie tennis player charged with match fixing ahead of 2017 Australian Open

Xinhua, January 6, 2017 Adjust font size:

Oliver Anderson, Australian tennis player and junior boys' champion from the 2016 Australian Open, has been charged with alleged match-fixing just days out from the year's first Grand Slam in Melbourne, local media outlet News Corp reported on Friday.

Anderson, 18, was the player under investigation by police for manipulating the outcome of a match at a tournament in regional Australia in October last year, but police and the Tennis Australia are yet to confirm the identity of the charged man.

Victoria's assistant police commissioner Neil Paterson said charges were laid on a player after assistance from the Sporting Integrity Intelligence Unit and bookmakers involved in the match, and confirmed the player at the center of the allegations will officially front court in March.

The charges against Anderson come at a challenging time for Tennis Australia, which is just days out from opening the 2017 Australian Open in Melbourne.

The 2017 Australian Open kicks off in Melbourne on Monday, Jan. 16.

Tennis Australia's head of integrity, Ann West said while the timing of the arrest was not ideal, it does serve as a warning to other athletes ahead of the year's first Grand Slam.

"Always, if something like this happens, it is disappointing to confront as a sport," West told News Corp. Endit