\n<\/p>\n
Realising undercover police officers were waiting off court was the moment Oliver Anderson knew he had been rumbled.<\/b><\/p>\n
Anderson had just lost in the second round of an ATP Challenger tournament, but it was his previous match – a three-set comeback win – that sparked the attention of the authorities.<\/p>\n
“Anyone who was watching that match would have instantly thought something was up,” the Australian recalls.<\/p>\n
In January 2016, Anderson won the Australian Open boys’ singles title in front of a home crowd, demonstrating his potential in a field featuring future top-10 stars Stefanos Tsitsipas, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Alex de Minaur.<\/p>\n
Nine months later, the Brisbane teenager was busted for throwing a set.<\/p>\n
A decade on, the 27-year-old – who has returned to the professional ranks after being ignited by a “quarter-life crisis” – is still uncomfortable talking in depth about the details.<\/p>\n
“It all happened very quickly. I was approached, decided it was doable, I’m doing it, then I’m walking off the court and I’m in serious trouble,” he tells BBC Sport.<\/p>\n
Match-fixing syndicates, known for preying on vulnerable victims, contacted Anderson in the days leading up to the now-notorious Challenger event in Traralgon, Australia.<\/p>\n
The teenager’s progress had been derailed by injury after his Melbourne victory and, having missed several months of income following surgery, he thought purposely losing a set would be an easy way to fulfil financial commitments.<\/p>\n
Footage of the match, external<\/span><\/a> is damning. Loopy, long second serves are followed by 704th-ranked Anderson casually batting easy returns into the net.<\/p>\n Fellow Australian Harrison Lombe was ranked outside the top 1,500 but won the first set – as planned by the conspirators – before Anderson fought back for a 4-6 6-0 6-2 victory.<\/p>\n Anderson says he does not know how police were tipped off. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported, external<\/span><\/a> a betting company became suspicious when a punter tried to lump A$10,000 (\u00a35,000) on Lombe taking the opener.<\/p>\n The following day – wracked with guilt and regret – Anderson got “absolutely wiped” in a 6-2 6-2 defeat by John-Patrick Smith.<\/p>\n “All I could think is ‘this is absolutely nuts and there’s only me who knows what going on’,” Anderson says.<\/p>\n “Then I was met by undercover police. I knew I’d made an absolute blunder.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n