World No 1 Novak Djokovic said on Monday that he was approached to fix a match earlier in his career. The Serbian was reportedly offered $200,000 to throw a match, reported AFP, as allegations of corruption rocked the tennis world ahead of the start of the Australian Open.
Djokovic opened up about the approach following his first-round win over South Korea's Chung Hyeon at Melbourne. The 28-year-old played down the recent Buzzfeed-BBC investigation report, but said he was approached in 2007 to throw a first-round match at St Petersburg.
"I was not approached directly. I was approached through people that were working with me at that time [sic]," Djokovic told reporters in Melbourne. "Of course, we threw it away right away. It didn't even get to me, the guy that was trying to talk to me, didn't even get to me directly...Unfortunately in those times [there were] rumours, some talks, some people were going around. They were dealt with [sic]."
The 10-time Grand Slam champion added that he had not heard of any corruption case "in the last six, seven years".
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