Russian tennis player Yana Sizikova has been arrested in Paris on suspicion of match fixing.
On the same day she was taken into custody, Sizikova was in doubles action in the French open - with the 26-year-old and her compatriot Ekaterina Alexandrova succumbing to a 6-1 6-1 opening round defeat to Ajla Tomljanovic and Storm Sanders of Australia.
As first covered by Le Parisien but reported by widespread media outlets, Sizikova was arrested as part of an investigation into "active and passive sports corruption" and "organised gang fraud".
One particular match was a key focus of the inquiry. In last year's event at Roland Garros, Sizikova and her American partner Madison Brengle lost 7-6(8) 6-4 to Romanian pair Andreea Mitu and Patricia Maria Tig.
The match is said to have seen suspicious and abnormal betting activity as during the second set, hundreds of thousands of euros were placed on a break of serve.
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As footage from the encounter shows, Sizikova, making her debut in the Grand Slam event and wearing black attire, had two double faults and was directly responsible for two of the three points given away in the fifth game.
The investigation was launched back in October shortly after the match in question. Sizikova was reportedly arrested following a massage session after her latest appearance on the court and her hotel room was searched.
Both the French Tennis Federation and the Russian French Tennis Federation have acknowledged Sizikova's arrest.
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Shamil Tarpischev, president of the latter organisation, commented: "We have not received any documents, so it's difficult to make an assessment of what has happened."
Sizikova has been a tennis player for 11 years and is currently ranked 101st in doubles and 765th in single competition.
She has collected (£146,310) in prize money over the course of her career.
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Tennis
