Was offered 200,000 USD in 2007 to throw a match: Novak Djokovic

Serbia's World no 1 tennis star Novak Djokovic has shaken a hornet's nest after revealing that he was offered 200,000 USD in 2007 to throw a first round match at St. Petersburg.

On Monday, 18 January, tennis was rocked by a major match-fixing scandal, after a joint-report by Buzzfeed and BBC alleged the involvement of 16 of the top 50-ranked players in the last decade in manipulation of matches.

Responding to queries from reporters following the development, Djokovic said that he too was approached by an illegal betting syndicate in 2007.

"I was not approached directly. I was approached through people that were working with me at that time. 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. There was nothing out of it," he said.

The Serb said that he was offered an amount of 200,000 USD to throw the match. "It (approach) made me feel terrible because I don't want to be anyhow linked to this kind of thing," he said.

"Somebody may call it an opportunity. For me, that's an act of unsportsmanship, a crime in sport, honestly. I don't support it. I think there is no room for it in any sport, especially in tennis," he added.