Taylor Fritz believes it is «unfortunate» that Mardy Fish and Bob Bryan have been fined for promoting a sports betting company, as Fritz feels that «in tennis, everyone except the players makes a profit from betting.»
In late November, ITIA announced that US Davis Cup captain Fish and coach Bryan would be fined $10,000 for promoting a sports betting company. Under ITIA rules, anyone associated with gambling may not bet on tennis matches or endorse a betting company.
In recent years, tennis players have often spoken out about the harassment they face after losing matches. Fritz, the ninth-ranked gambler in the world, says bullying by angry gamblers is a real thing and he received between 50 and 100 death threats after losing.
Fritz: Angry gamblers harassing players is a real thing
«They just advertised a sports betting company. I know for a fact they didn’t specifically say ‘bet on tennis’ or anything like that. That’s against the rules, I get it.»
I just think that everyone in tennis makes a profit from betting, except the players. We get all the bullying from betting. We get 50-100 death threats after every game you lose. Horrible messages, all the hate and all the negative side of the game, but we didn’t get any of the positive.
It’s unfair to us. There is no way tennis players should tell people to bet on tennis, but I don’t think it should be a problem when it comes to anything outside of tennis. What happened with Bob and Mardy is unfortunate. Times are changing and the rules may need to change again,» Fritz told Clay.
After ITIA contacted Fish and Bryan about promoting a sports betting business, they fully cooperated with authorities and removed the posts. Fish and Bryan work for the US Davis Cup team and therefore are not allowed to promote gambling of any kind. In the Davis Cup Finals, the United States suffered a quarterfinal loss to Italy.
