Novak Djokovic wins, again faces questions about match-fixing

MELBOURNE, Australia — For the second time in three days, Novak Djokovic won a match at the Australian Open and was confronted by questions about match-fixing in the sport.

The five-time champion had just beaten 19-year-old French wild-card entry Quentin Halys 6-1, 6-2, 7-6 (3) in the second round Wednesday night — his 34th win in his past 35 matches at Melbourne Park — when his news conference veered to questions about the issue that has overshadowed the start of the season’s first major.

After his first-round win, on the day when the BBC and BuzzFeed News published reports alleging match-fixing had gone unchecked in tennis, the top-ranked player recalled when a member of his support team was approached with an offer to throw a match in Russia in 2007.

After his second-round win, he was asked about an Italian newspaper report casting doubt over his performance in a match against Fabrice Santoro in Paris in 2007.

[...] somebody comes out with the real proof and evidence, it’s only a speculation for me.

The BBC and BuzzFeed reports said 16 players repeatedly had been flagged to tennis authorities for suspicious performances, including a Grand Slam winner, and half of them were at this year’s Australian Open.

On Wednesday, Federer extended his streak of reaching the third round at the Australian Open to 17 years.

Other seeded players advancing included No. 6 Tomas Berdych, No. 7 Kei Nishikori and 2014 U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic.

No. 13 Roberta Vinci beat Irina Falconi 6-2, 6-3 to advance, and is a potential fourth-round opponentl for No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska, who beat Eugenie Bouchard 6-4, 6-2 in a match featuring two Wimbledon finalists.